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3LAR DISCOVERIES 



A.W. CiREELY 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/handbookofpolard02gree 




GEN. A. W. GREELY, U.S. ARMY 

( Gold Medallist of the Roval Geographical Society, and of 
the Societe de Geographie dc Paris) 



HANDBOOK 



OF 



POLAR DISCOVERIES 



BY 

A. W. GREELY 

MAJOR-GENERAL UNITED STATES ARMY 



Third Edition 
revised and enlarged 



BOSTON 

LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 

1906 



(k 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

OCT 15 1906 

Copyright Entry 
CLASS Ou XXc.No, 

/5-%0l6~ 

COPY B. 



Copyright, i8gs, 1897, 
By Roberts Brothers. 

Copyright, iqcb, 

By Little, Brown, and Company. 



THB UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. tu 



PREFACE 

IT is often asserted that this twentieth century is 
above all an age of utilities and materialism, 
which is but half the truth. Despite the extraor- 
dinary development and the modifying influences of 
industrial arts and inventions, the spirit of human 
aspiration and pride of accomplishment have not 
materially waned. It therefore results that the past 
five years have been marked by a succession of polar 
expeditions which in hazard of effort and success 
of achievement are inferior to none of the earlier 
voyages. With the new records of Cagni to the 
north and of SCOTT to the south, the expansion of the 
original of this volume into a HANDBOOK OF POLAR 
DISCOVERIES is not entirely inappropriate. 

This volume represents more than 70,000 pages of 
original narrative, from which the author has faith- 
fully endeavored to compile such data of accomplished 
results as may subserve the inquiries of the busy man 
who often wishes to .know what, when, and where, 
rather than how. 

It is confidently believed that no important Arctic 
geographic addition to knowledge has been omitted 
from this record. While the original scope of the 
volume did not include scientific research, yet the 
more important investigations are mentioned, and 
the sources whence farther information can be drawn 
have been indicated in the final chapter. 



iv Preface 

It should be borne in mind that this is a Hand- 
book, not a Narrative of " Polar Discoveries " ; 
and if the detailed story of adventure is wished it 
must be sought in the original works indicated at 
the end of each chapter. 

Avoiding the strictly chronological plan usual in 
most polar summaries, the topical method of treat- 
ment has been followed, as presenting sharper pic- 
tures of local conditions and clearer ideas of relative 
advances in the various geographical districts. 

If the author has dwelt somewhat fully on Ameri- 
can expeditions, and especially on the work he per- 
sonally commanded, such a course has been taken 
with some misgivings, and at the request of American 
geographers. For this only the indulgence of the 
public and of the critic is craved. 

A. W. GREELY. 

Washington City, February, 1906. 



CONTENTS 

Chapter Page 

I. The Scope and Value of Arctic Exploration 3 

II. Early Northwest Voyages — to 1750 .... 12 

III. Nova Zembla 22 

IV. The Northeast Passage 34 

V. Spitzbergen . . 48 

VI. Bering Strait 70 

VII. The Northwest Passage by Sea 85 

VIII. The Northwest Passage by Land 101 

IX. Franklin's Last Voyage 127 

X. The Franklin Search by Land 134 

XL The Franklin Search by Sea 143 

XII. NORTH-POLAR VOYAGES 165 

XIII. The Islands of the Siberian Ocean . . . 186 

XIV. Smith Sound and Robeson Channel . . . 196 
XV. Franz Josef Land 211 

XVI. The International Circumpolar Stations . 221 

XVII. Greenland 241 

XVIII. Arctic Bibliography 264 

XIX. The Antarctic Regions in General .... 271 

XX. The African Quadrant 27S 

XXI. The Australian Quadrant 285 

XXII. The Pacific Quadrant 29S 

XXIII. The American Quadrant 301 

INDEX 313 



MAPS 

Number 

i. Arctic Regions face p. 3 ' 

2. Shakespeare's New Map (after Hakluyt Society 

map), 1600 infold p. 8 ' 

3. Delisle's Terres Arctiques, 1715 face p. 10 

4. Nova Zembla (Hydrographic Chart, U. S. Navy) infold p. 22 / 

5. Spitzbergen (Hydrographic Chart, U. S. Navy) . " p. 48 

6. Arctic Coast and Islands of North America 

(after Arrow-smith) infold p. 84 

7. Franz Josef Land face p. 211 

8. International Circumpolar Stations . . " p. 221 

9. Greenland " /. 241 

10. Antarctic Regions in General " p. 271 

11. Australian Antarctic Quadrant .... " p. 285 

12. American Antarctic Quadrant " p. 301 



HANDBOOK OF POLAR DISCOVERIES 












- 







~ s .:".. 



No. I. 




HANDBOOK OF 

POLAR DISCOVERIES 

PART ONE 

ARCTIC DISCOVERIES 

CHAPTER I 

THE SCOPE AND VALUE OF ARCTIC EXPLORATION 

THIS record sets forth rather what men have done 
than how they have done it, so that such pictures 
of Arctic travel as here appear are subordinate and inci- 
dental to the main subject, — that of Polar Discoveries. 
If one would gain an adequate idea of the true aspects of 
such voyaging he must turn to the original journals, penned 
in the great White North by brave men whose ' purpose 
held to sail beyond the sunset.' 

In those volumes will be found tales of ships beset not 
only months, but years ; of ice-packs and ice-fields of 
extent, thickness, and mass so enormous that description 
conveys no just idea; of boat-journeys where constant 
watchfulness alone prevented instant death by drifting 
bergs or commingling ice-floes ; of land-marches when 
exhausted humanity staggered along, leaving traces of blood 
on snow or rock ; of sledge-journeys over chaotic masses 
of ice, when humble heroes straining at the drag-ropes 
struggled on because the failure of one compromised the 
safety of all ; of solitude and monotony, terrible in the 
weeks of constant polar sunlight but almost unsettling the 



4 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

reason in the months of continuous Arctic darkness ; of 
silence awful at all times, but made yet more startling by 
astounding phenomena that appeal noiselessly to the eye ; 
of darkness so continuous and intense that the disturbed 
mind is driven to wonder whether the ordinary course of 
nature will bring back the sun or whether the world has 
been cast out of its orbit in the planetary universe into 
new conditions ; of cold so intense that any exposure is 
followed by instant freezing ; of monotonous surroundings 
that threaten with time to unbalance the reason ; of depri- 
vations wasting the body and so impairing the mind ; of 
failure in all things, not only of food, fuel, clothing, and 
shelter, — for Arctic service foreshadows such contingen- 
cies, — but the bitter failure of plans and aspirations, which 
brings almost inevitably despair in its train. 

Failure of all things, did I say? Nay, failure, be it 
admitted, of all the physical accessories of conceived and 
accomplished action, but not failure in the higher and 
more essential attributes, — not of the mental and moral 
qualities that are the foundation of fortitude, fidelity, and 
honor. Failures in this latter respect have been so rare 
in Arctic service as to justly make each offender a byword 
and scorn to his fellow-laborers and successors. 

Patience, courage, fortitude, foresight, self-reliance, 
helpfulness, — these grand characteristics of developed 
humanity everywhere, but which we are inclined to claim 
as especial endowments of the Teutonic races, — find 
ample expression in the detailed history of Arctic explora- 
tion. If one seeks to learn to what extent man's determi- 
nation and effort dominate even the most adverse envi- 
ronment, the simple narratives of Arctic , exploration will 
not fail to furnish striking examples. 

This volume attempts to justify its title as a 'Hand- 
book of Arctic Discoveries,' whereto one may turn with 



The Scope and Value of Arctic Exploration 5 

confidence for succinct accounts of all important voyages 
and of such minor explorations as are of popular interest. 
What should appear in, and what should be omitted from, 
such a volume is obviously a matter of personal opinion, 
which with the author is the result of diligent research for 
many years. Under the above plan only such voyages or 
parts of voyages are treated, as either contributed materi- 
ally to original geographic knowledge, to the development 
of other sciences, or as by purpose and action especially 
merit recognition. Scores of geographic expeditions, 
following well-known routes, have failed to enhance the 
knowledge of the world beyond local and minor points, 
which alter inappreciably charts of normal scale. Original 
extensions of knowledge — however small or in whatever 
direction — are always valuable to the world, but supple- 
mentary information commands attention only when mate- 
rial and important. 

As a work of this kind is necessarily a summary of many 
narratives, it is proper to here add that references have 
always been made to original accounts in English or 
French, otherwise to the most complete translation into 
one of these tongues. 

In preparing this summary of such Arctic explorations as 
are of historical value, it has been thought that clearness 
of statement and convenience of reference would be 
subserved by avoiding the usual method of strict chrono- 
logical sequence, and adopting a plan whereby all discov- 
eries should be co-ordinated with the particular phase of 
polar work to which they pertain. Consequently there 
appear under separate and comprehensive chapters such 
important and interesting topics as the Northwest Passage, 
the Northeast Passage, the Franklin Search, International 
Polar Stations, and Voyages to the North Pole. 

This course will tend to dissipate the wide-spread im- 



6 Hatidbook of Arctic Discoveries 

pression that all Arctic voyages have been made for prac- 
tically the same general purpose, whereas polar research 
has passed through three distinctive phases : first, for 
strictly commercial purposes in connection with trade to 
the Indies ; second, for advancement of geographic 
knowledge ; and third, for scientific investigations con- 
nected with the physical sciences. 

Under such a plan it is not the purpose of the author 
to dwell on the very early voyages, prior to the sixteenth 
century, since their extent and results are very largely 
indeterminate and disputed. Whatever of temporary 
success marked the daring voyages of the Norsemen and 
other sea-faring races, yet no permanent settlement, or 
indeed definite geographical information, remain to the 
world from any Arctic journey, save in Norway, made 
prior to the middle of the sixteenth century. 

Commercial interests dictated the grand series of voy- 
ages wherein England, competing with Spain from the 
period of the ventures of the Cabots to the discoveries of 
Baffin, sought for a short route to the Indies across the 
the Pole or by a Northwest Passage. As the futility of 
efforts by these routes became more or less apparent, — 
and as the naval strength of Spain and Portugal ensured 
their continued monopoly of the growing and valuable 
trade of the Orient, — the attention of England was 
turned in sheer desperation to the Northeast Passage, as 
possibly offering a competing route. While this quest 
proved impracticable for the sailing ships of the sixteenth 
century, yet its prosecution inured to the great financial 
advantage of England, through the establishment thereby 
of intimate and exclusive commercial relations with the 
growing and hitherto inaccessible empire of Russia. 

The renewal of the true spirit of geographical explora- 
tion, in the early part of the present century, gave rise to 



The Scope and Value of Arctic Exploration 7 

a series of unparalleled voyages in search of the Northwest 
Passage, which resulted in the most splendid geographic 
achievements of the century. These voyages were not 
splendid alone from the definite results attained, nor from 
the almost superhuman efforts that ensured success, but 
also from the lofty spirit of endeavor and adventure that 
inspired the actors. The men who strove therein were 
lured by no hope of gain, influenced by no spirit of con- 
quest, but were moved solely by the belief that man should 
know even the most desolate regions of his abiding place, 
the earth, and the determination that the Anglo-Saxon 
should do his part. Franklin said : — 

' Arctic discovery has been fostered from motives as 
disinterested as they are enlightened ; not from any pros- 
pect of immediate benefit, but from a steady view to the 
acquirement of useful knowledge and the extension of the 
bounds of science ; and its contributions to natural history 
and science have excited a general interest. The loss of 
life in the prosecution of these discoveries does not exceed 
the average deaths in the same population at home.' 

Parry adds : — 

' Such enterprises, so disinterested as well as useful in 
their object, do honor even when they fail; they cannot 
but excite the admiration of every liberal mind.' 

The latest phase, that of systematic scientific research 
in the polar regions, has developed almost in its entirety 
during the past quarter of a century. At present such has 
become the attitude toward Arctic voyages that an expe- 
dition can scarcely command support unless it claims to 
be in the interests of science. This transition in the 
status of science relative to Arctic work has been wrought 
by a few men, and among them there is no other who, by 
personal effort and argument, has exercised a more potent 
influence than Baron A. E. von Nordenskiold. Doubtless 



8 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

the scientific work of Nordenskiold incited and gave di- 
rection to the well-known efforts of Weyprecht that eventu- 
uated in the establishment of the International Polar 
Stations, where geographic and commercial ends were 
rigidly subordinated to systematic scientific research. 

From the voyages under consideration the contributions 
to material interests and to the sum of human knowledge 
have been neither scanty nor inconsiderable. The air, the 
earth, the ocean, even the universe, have disclosed some 
of their rarest secrets to scientific voyagers in polar lands. 
Within the Arctic Circle have been located and determined 
the poles of the triple magnetic forces. In its barometric 
pressures, with their regular phases, have been found the 
dominating causes that affect the climates of the northern 
parts of America, Asia, and Europe. From its sea-sound- 
ings, serial temperatures, and hydrographic surveys have 
been evolved that most satisfactory theory of a vertical 
interoceanic circulation. A handful of its dried plants 
enabled a botanist to prophetically forecast the general 
character of unknown lands, and in its fossil plants another 
scientist has read unerringly the story of tremendous 
climatic changes that have metamorphosed the face of the 
earth. Its peculiar tides have indicated clearly the influ- 
ence exerted by the stellar worlds on our own, and to its 
ice-clad lands science inquiringly turns for data to solve 
the glacial riddles of lower latitudes. 

It should not be inferred that more material gains are 
wanting as the direct result of Arctic research. Although 
the English navigators failed to reach China and monopo- 
lize its trade by a northeast passage, they nevertheless 
opened a way through the White Sea- route to the previ- 
ously unapproachable empire of Russia, from the Czar of 
which were obtained large and exclusive trade privileges 
that inured for many years to the mutual advantage of 



No. II. 







No. II. 




SHAKESPEARE'S NEW MAP, 1600. (After Hakluyt Society Map) 




> 



The Scope and Value of Arctic Exploration g 

England and Russia. The northern voyages likewise 
resulted in the valuable whale fishery that, as Scoresby 
says, ' in a short time proved the most lucrative and the 
most important branch of national commerce which had 
ever been offered to man.' This emphatic statement is 
devoid of exaggeration in the slightest degree. Scoresby 
gives year by year the products of the Dutch whale-fishery 
in the Arctic seas from 1668 to 1778, which aggregated 
in value over one hundred millions of dollars. When it 
is known that Scoresby himself caught in thirty voyages 
fish to the value of a million dollars, it will not be con- 
sidered extravagant to place the products of the British 
whale-fishery at two hundred and fifty millions of dollars. 
Starbuck gives the product of the American whale-fishery 
from 1804 to 1877 as three hundred and thirty- two mil- 
lion dollars, making the aggregate of the three nations, — 
America, England, and Holland, — more than six hundred 
and eighty million dollars. How far this amount should 
be increased on account of seal, walrus, and other strictly 
Arctic sea game need not be considered. 

Bering failed to outline the definite geographic relations 
of Asia and America, but his voyage directly resulted in 
the extremely profitable sea and land fur-trade of the 
Bering Sea region, and similarly grew up the Hudson Bay 
trade. Altogether it may be assumed that in a little over 
two centuries the Arctic regions have furnished to the 
civilized world products aggregating a thousand millions 
of dollars in value. 

Thoughtful writers have not failed to note the wondrous 
influence that the initiation of adventurous voyages in the 
middle of the sixteenth century wrought on the future 
growth of England. In this respect the consensus of 
modern opinions justifies the import that Nordenskiold 
attaches to the joyous speeding of the Northeast Expedition 



10 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

of Willoughby and Chancellor, in 1553 : 'All was joy 
and triumph ; it seemed as if men foresaw that the greatest 
maritime power the history of the world can show was 
that day born.' 

The extent, of geographic knowledge regarding the 
Arctic regions at the end of the sixteenth century is shown 
by the reproduction herewith of the northern part of the 
chart of 1600. This was called by Shakespeare 'The 
New Map, with the augmentation of the Indies.' Fries- 
land and Estotiland of the Zeni chart remain, but other 
traditional lands have given way to the discoveries of 
Dutch and British navigators, — Barents, Davis, and 
Frobisher. Spitzbergen, Nova Zembla, and Greenland 
appear, although the last-named country is bisected by 
Frobisher Strait, which by a natural error (Chapter II) 
was charted on the wrong side of Davis Strait. 

The map of G. Delisle, in Voyages an Nord ( Amster- 
dam 1 715), indicates the progress made in the century 
following the publication of the New Map of 1 600. Baffin 
and Hudson Bays, Jan Mayen and Spitzbergen have been 
thoroughly explored ; Nova Zembla, however, is figured as 
part of the mainland of Asia, notwithstanding the great 
Siberian rivers, the Yenisei and Lena, appear, and the 
coast as far eastward as Swjatoi Noss. Greenland is still 
bisected by a strait, and the memory of Zeno's Friesland 
abides off its eastern coast, which shore stretches north- 
ward near to the 78th parallel. The marked feature is 
the wide expanse of unknown region between Asia and 
America, that remained to be filled in under the inspiration 
of the voyages of Bering a quarter of a century later, and 
the entire absence of knowledge regarding the north 
coast of America. 

The map of Barrow, the great British Arctic authority, 
of 1 8 18, shows that no advance was made in the eighteenth 




a 

i— i 

H 
U 

w 

Pi 
w 



The Scope and Value of Arctic Exploration n 

century, and so is not reproduced. In short, it shows 
retrogression, for not only was the entire coast of North 
America left vacant, but the discoveries of Baffin in 1 6 1 6 
were distrusted, as shown by the omission of Baffin Bay 
from the chart. Barrington the same year was even more 
definite, for he entered on his map the legend ' Baffins 
Bay, according to the relation of W. Baffin in 1616, but 
not now believed.' 

It thus remained for the nineteenth century, with its 
wealth of industrial inventions and store of indomitable 
energy, to make the Northwest and Northeast Passages, 
to outline the northern coast of America, and to discover 
the archipelagos and islands situated poleward from the 
three continents of the Northern Hemisphere. 



Scoresby : The Arctic Regions and Northern Whale- 
Fishery (2 v. Edinburgh 1819) ; Richardson: Polar 
Regions (Edinburgh 186 1) ; Markham (C. R.) : Thresh- 
old of Unknown Regions (London 1876) ; Nordenskiold : 
Studien u. Forschungen, — Hohen Norden (Leipzig 1885) ; 
Hartwig: Polar World (London 1886); Lindemann : 
Arktische Fischerei der Deutschen Seestadte, 1620-1868 
(Gotha 1869) ; Reste : Histoire (Zordrager's) des Peches 
(3 v. Paris 1801-2). Read 'Polar Regions' in 9th 
edition Encyclopaedia Britannica ; and ' Polar Research ' 
in The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XIV. 



CHAPTER II 

EARLY NORTHWEST VOYAGES— TO 1750 

THE discovery of the continent of America and the 
search for a Northwest Passage are inseparably 
connected, the first event having directly resulted from 
the latter pursuit. The idea of such a passage originated 
with John and Sebastian Cabot, father and son. 

Sailing, probably in May from Bristol, the Cabots, 
24th June 1497, 'discovered that country which no 
one before his time had ventured to approach.' The 
weight of opinion inclines to the belief that this was part 
of the mainland instead of Newfoundland. If Sebastian 
Cabot made such claim it was not recognized as a conti- 
nent by the authorities, as shown by the entry in the Privy 
Purse accounts of Henry the Seventh, — ' the 10 of August, 
1497. To him that found the New Isle, ;£io. ' 

The second voyage under Sebastian Cabot, made with 
five ships in 1498, was more definite in its results, for 
during that summer he coasted along the American conti- 
nent northward to about 67 30' n., doubtless discov- 
ering the mouth of Hudson Strait, — where appalling 
dangers and abundant ice obliged him to retrace his way 
southward, until he reached the vicinity of the thirty- 
eighth parallel, — still searching for a passage, as far as 
' that part of the firme lande now called Florida.' 

Thus from the first venture on the Passage resulted 
a knowledge of some eighteen hundred miles of American 



Early Northwest Voyages — to 1750 13 

sea-coast. While the explorations thus made disclosed 
the existence of a great continent as an insuperable 
barrier to voyagers for China, it incidentally gave such an 
accurate knowledge of America as led to unexpected 
advantages in later voyages, enabling explorers to have 
more specific aims and definite destinations. 

Cortereal, Verrazzano, and Gomez (1500-15 24) — 
the last non-English navigators in search of the northwest 
way to Cathay — failed of their declared intentions, but 
their voyages were otherwise fruitful. Thence sprang up 
the lucrative fisheries, pursued by the Portuguese, Basques, 
and Spaniards in the waters of Newfoundland, and also 
was developed a more accurate knowledge of the resources 
of the coast lands of the New World. It is even probable 
that these adventurous fishermen pushed gradually north- 
ward along the rock- bound coast of Labrador and into 
Hudson Strait and Bay, between 1540 and 1570. 

It was only gradually that England came to appreciate 
the important advantages inuring to Spain and Portugal 
from fleets manned by danger-hardened sailors, that on 
the one hand gathered the riches of the northwestern seas, 
and on the other garnered the wealth of the Orient. 

The Northeastern voyages, the founding of the Mus- 
covy Company, and the weakening of the Hanseatic League 
were preludes to the re-opening of the Northwest Quest, 
which was to assume practical form after fifteen years of 
assiduous exertion on the part of Sir Martin Frobisher. 
Asher has well said that Frobisher first gave national 
character to the search for the Northwest Passage ' by 
bringing all the most eminent interests in the country — 
political and aristocratic, scientific and commercial — to 
bear on this enterprise.' Queen Elizabeth, Earl War- 
wick, Lok, — a wealthy merchant who supplied most of 
the funds, — and even D r Dee, the official adviser of the 



14 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

closest and most jealous commercral corporation of the 
day, the Muscovy Company, cordially supported the un- 
dertaking. Frobisher sailed rejoicing, 7th June 1576, 
with three tiny craft. The pinnace foundered in a violent 
gale, and his remaining consort deserted, but with stout 
heart he continued his voyage in the Gabriel, — a frail 
bark of 20 tons burthen, in which to-day the passage 
of the well-known Atlantic would hardly be attempted. 
The results of the voyage were a mass of misleading 
geographic information and quantities of equally worth- 
less gold-earth, which inspired two other disappointing 
voyages. The gold search ended in financial losses and 
bitter disappointments, and an excited adventurer trans- 
formed an extensive ice-field of Davis Strait into an 
island, which grew in importance and size as the return- 
ing ship sailed toward England. This mythical island, 
charted as Busse Island, soon disappeared from the 
maps ; but another geographical error, — the Frobisher 
Strait of southern Greenland, — held its place in Arctic 
charts for many years, perplexing geographers and ex- 
plorers, and forming the basis of wild theories, even to 
this generation three centuries later. Frobisher's sailing- 
chart placed, as did all existing maps, the south end of 
Greenland in 65 n., and when he reached the mainland 
of America he fell into the error of believing it to be 
Greenland, which he naturally supposed to be divided by 
the newly discovered strait, which was thus mapped as in 
Greenland instead of in its correct position in America. 

One fact was, however, established by Frobisher's ex- 
ploration, on which the supporters of Northwest voyages 
rested their hopes of ultimate success and arguments for 
renewed attempts. He had determined the existence of 
a broad (Frobisher) strait in America, navigable for 
hundreds of miles between 62 and 63 n., and of a 



Early Northwest Voyages — to 1750 15 

second (Hudson) strait broader and more easily navi- 
gated, between 6o° and 62° n. 

The first great advance toward the discovery of the 
Northwest Passage resulted from the three voyages of 
John Davis, of Sandridge, a distinguished seaman whose 
abilities as a sailor were no less conspicuous than his 
skill as a pilot and knowledge as a navigator. 

Under letters patent, the right of search by all northerly 
routes was granted to a company which sent Davis forth 
in 1585 with the Sunshine, 60 tons, and the Moonshine, 
35 tons. Sighting Greenland 20th July, he well describes 
it as a ' land being very high and full of mighty moun- 
tains all covered with snowe, no viewe of wood, grasse 
or earth to be seene, and the shore two leagues into 
the sea full of yce. The loathsome view of the shore 
and irksome noyse of the yce was such as to bred strange 
conceites among us.' On 29th July he was off the 
west coast near Godthaab, having ' past al the yce and 
found many green and pleasant Isle? bordering upon the 
shore.' 

Crossing the strait which now bears his name, Davis 
reached Cape Dyer, sailed nearly to the head of Cumber- 
land Sound, and returned to Dartmouth, 30th September. 

Davis's voyage of the following year, made in the same 
vessels, with the addition of the Merimade, 120 tons, and 
a pinnace of ten tons, added nothing to the Northwest 
discoveries of the preceding year. However, he stretched 
southward along the American coast to Labrador with- 
out observing the entrance to Hudson Strait. On this 
voyage the unfortunate little pinnace, North Star, was 
lost in a violent storm. 

The third voyage of 1588 was made in the Elizabeth, 
the Sunshine, and the Ellen. Following the west coast 
of Greenland to the vicinity of Sanderson's Hope, 



1 6 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

Davis found the 'sea all open to the westward and 
northward ' at his farthest northing, 72 12' n. Thence 
he steered westward, passing through the dreaded mid- 
dle ice-pack of Baffin Bay ' a mighty bank of ice,' says 
Davis. From Mount Raleigh, the western side of Davis 
Strait, he reports that there was no ice toward the north, 
but a great sea, ' free, large, very salt and blue, and of in- 
determinable depth.' This last voyage, one of most 
reckless gallantry, must have taxed to the utmost the 
skill and seamanship of Davis in navigating his fleet of 
tiny vessels through unknown waters, amidst constantly 
recurring dangers the more terrific from their novelty. 
The remarkable discoveries of Davis covered the west 
coast of Greenland from Cape Farewell to Sanderson's 
Hope, and on the American side, from Cape Dyer, 
Cumberland Island, to Southern Labrador. 

His descriptions of the Greenlanders are quaint, curi- 
ous, and instructive, showing them to have been, three 
centuries ago, the same ' tractable people, void of craft 
or double-dealing ' as we know them to-day. Of the 
voyage of Weymouth in 1602 Fox remarks : 'He neyther 
discovered anything more than Davis, nor had any sight 
of Greenland ; . . . yet these two, Davis and he, did, I 
conceive, light Hudson into his straits,' into which he 
sailed 'an hundred leagues west and by south.' The 
ventures of Knight and Hall, 1605-7, were failures, and 
the next honors were gained by a man whose recorded 
life runs only from 1607 to 161 1. Four years are a brief 
period, but it was enough for Henry Hudson to make an 
impress on his own generation of great and adventurous 
seamen, and yet more to render his name imperishable 
in history. He visited almost all the known Arctic 
lands of Europe and America, and in whatever direction 
he turned his energies, remarkable successes followed. 



Early Northwest Voyages — to 1750 17 

Hudson's earlier voyages, 1607-9, along the coasts of 
Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla, are elsewhere (Chapters 
III and V) mentioned. In 16 10 he returned to service 
under England, and in a voyage at the expense of three 
gentlemen, Sir Thomas Smith, Sir Dudley Diggs, and 
Master John Westonholme, — attempted the search for 
a Northwest Passage. 

Hudson sailed on his fourth known voyage, in the Dis- 
covery, from London, 17th April 16 10, to try 'if, through 
any of those inlets which Davis saw ... on the wes- 
terne side of Fretum Davis any passage might be found to 
the other ocean.' 

Touching at Iceland and later making the east coast 
of Greenland in 65 ° 30' n., Hudson found the shore ice- 
bound. Standing southward and imagining one of the 
many inlets to be Frobisher Straits, he rounded Cape 
Desolation (Farewell), sailed west and entering a (Hud- 
son) strait passed, 21st July, to a point where he 'found 
the sea more growne than any wee had since wee left 
England.' He was in Hudson Bay. 

Cabot, Davis, and Weymouth had visited the mouth of 
Hudson Strait, and there is the best of cartographic proof 
that the Portuguese fishermen had even entered the bay. 
Their charts of 1558 show their familiarity with the strait, 
while the atlas of Ortelius in 1570 definitely outlines the 
(Hudson) bay. However, Hudson's achievements were 
so striking, and his fate so tragic, that his name properly 
abides with the great inland sea, in which as elsewhere 
he distanced his predecessors in successful exploration. 

His ship beset with ice, his officers mutinous, and his 
men sick with fear, yet Hudson continued his voyage, and 
following the east side of the bay reached its south- 
eastern extremity, James Bay, where, frozen-in the 12th of 
November, the expedition wintered. One man died and 



1 8 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

provisions were scanty, but Hudson was a man of re- 
sources, and so supplemented short rations by hunting and 
fishing, which furnished forth large amounts of suitable 
food. During the autumn he had displaced his mate and 
boatswain for mutinous conduct, and the winter bred bad 
feeling, which culminated after Hudson had broken out 
of winter quarters and was exploring the western shore. 
The mutineers, led by Henry Green, a protege" who owed 
everything to the generosity of Hudson, set adrift in a 
small shallop, 21st June 161 3, the captain, five sick 
men, and John Hudson, possibly Hudson's son. A 
ninth man, John King, the carpenter, loyally cast in his 
fate with his commander. Thus perished by the basest 
ingratitude Henry Hudson, for diligent search the follow- 
ing year by Sir Thomas Button was fruitless. The muti- 
neers fared little better, for Green and four others 
perished at the hands of savages, and the rest barely 
escaped from death by starvation in their wretched home- 
ward voyage to merited imprisonment in England. 

Hudson died living up to his noble rule that men 
should c achieve what they had undertaken, or else give 
reason wherefore it will not be.' If he found not the 
Northwest Passage, his discoveries in connection with the 
search therefor gave to England the wealth of furry land- 
game in the Hudson Bay territory as a supplement to 
the inheritance of finny sea-game in the Spitzbergen 
whale-fishery, the result of his earlier voyages. 

Sir Thomas EirrroN, pursuing the route laid down by 
his unfortunate predecessor, also found Hudson Bay full 
of dangers. He lost five men by the natives, and quite 
a number died at Port Nelson, where he wintered. His 
voyages gave no information as to Hudson's exact fate, 
but Button crossed the bay from east to west, — first of 
navigators, — and explored its western shores. 



Early Northwest Voyages — to 1750 19 

His discoveries include Nelson River, Button Bay, 
Button Island, Ne Plus Ultra (Roe Welcome) Strait, and 
Southampton Island. Unfortunately for his successors, 
he believed that the passage to the South Sea could be 
found out of the northwest part of the bay, and it was a 
century before this idea could be dispelled completely — 
by Parry. Bylot, in 1615, confirmed Button's discov- 
eries, but added nothing to them. 

Emulous of English discoveries, enterprising Denmark 
sent Jens Munk on the search. Entering Hudson Bay 
there is good reason to believe that he made discoveries 
along the western shore. He wintered, not in Chester- 
field inlet, but in Churchill River, where his mis- 
fortunes were so great as to destroy his credit. Disease 
carried away his men almost to a man, — some accounts 
say 62 out of 64 seamen, — and with untold difficulties 
Munk with his few remaining men made their return voy- 
age in the smaller of his two vessels. 

James and so-called 'Northwest' Fox, sailed in 1631, 
the latter bearing a letter from the King of England to 
the Emperor of Japan. James had, as he styles it, a 
dangerous and lamentable voyage, losing several men, 
his ship, and later his house by fire at Charlton Island, 
in the southern extremity of Hudson Bay, now called 
James Bay. No discoveries resulted from his voyage. 

It is doubtful if the region covered by Fox was new ; 
but he affixed his name to a strait, — Fox Channel, where 
he reached 66° 50' n. 77 w., 21st September 1631, — 
and named an (Southampton) island Sir Thomas Roe's 
Welcome. What he failed to obtain in reputation from 
the actual work done, he gained from a facile pen in his 
quaint and somewhat humorous account of this voyage, — 
styled ' Northwest Foxe.' A few islands, — Brooke, 
Cobham, and Brigg's Mathamatick's, as he calls them, 
appear to cover his original work. 



20 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

To close with efforts by Hudson Bay, it may be said 
that the voyage of Middleton in 1741 resulted in the 
discovery of Wagner River and Repulse Bay, thus afford- 
ing convincing proof of the impossibility of passing to 
the west from Hudson Bay. Sir Arthur Dobbs unjustly 
questioned the accuracy of Middleton's work and claimed 
that Wagner River was a strait leading to the South Sea. 
A second expedition, — the Dobbs and California, under 
Moore and Smith, — sent out in 1 746, through Dobbs' 
influence, reported to his discomfiture that the Wagner 
was a river. 

Returning to the only route by which success was 
possible, Davis was there followed by another able seaman 
and great discoverer, William Baffin, who, in the Dis- 
covery, a craft of only 55 tons, sailed 16th March 16 16, 
from Gravesend. He sighted Greenland 14th May, and 
on the 30th of that month had reached Davis' farthest 
point, Sanderson's Hope, in 72 41' n. On 9 th June, 
he was stopped by ice at Baffin Islands, 73 54' n. 
Leaving his anchorage 18th June, he took what is known 
as the 'Middle Passage' across Melville Bay, and 
reached, 1st July, an open sea, — the 'North Water' of 
the whalers of to-day. Passing Capes York, Atholl, and 
Parry, he yet pushed northward, and on 5 th July attained 
his farthest point within sight of Cape Alexander. His 
latitude, about 77 45' n., remained unequalled in that sea 
for two hundred and thirty-six years. Baffin in quaint 
language says he was forced by ice 'to stand backe 
some eight leagues to an island we called Hakluits He — 
it lyeth betweene two great Sounds, the one Whale 
Sound, and the other Sir Thomas Smith's Sound ; this last 
runneth to the north of 78, and is admirable in one 
respect, because in it is the greatest variation of the 
compasse of the world known ; for by divers good obser- 



Early Northwest Voyages — to 1750 21 

vations I found it to be above five points, or fifty- six 
degrees varied to the westward.' 

A few days later Baffin turned southward, having in 
this wonderful voyage sailed over three hundred miles 
farther north than his predecessor, Davis. He thus added 
to geographical knowledge Ellesmere and Prudhoe Lands, 
and Baffin Bay, with its radiating sounds of Smith, Jones, 
and Lancaster. With this voyage ended all efforts to 
discover a route to Cathay and the Indies by Davis Strait ; 
for two centuries the waters first navigated by Baffin 
remained unvexed by any keel, and the very credit of 
his discoveries passed from the mind of man. 



See Hakluyt Society Publications, London, v. d. : Major : 
Voyages of the ' Zeni ' (1873) ; Rundall : Voyages towards 
the North-West, 1496-1631 (1859); Collinson : Three 
Voyages of Martin Frobisher (1867) ; Markham, A. H. : 
Voyages of John Davis (1880); Asher : Henry Hud- 
son the Navigator (i860); Markham, C. R. : Voyages 
of William Baffin, 1612-22 (1881) ; Barrow: Coat's 
Geography of Hudson Bay (1852). 

Goldsmid : Hakluyt' s Voyages of English to America 
before 1600, 4 v. (Edinburgh 189 1) ; Beazley : Voyages 
of the Zeni (London 1903). 



A 



CHAPTER III 

NOVA ZEMBLA 

S is well known, the principal part of this land is 
divided by Matthew Strait (Matotschkin Schar) 
into two large islands. The name Nova Zembla originally 
covered the southerly of these twin lands, but it is now 
properly applied to the whole group. 

The islands of Nova Zembla have always been classified 
as uninhabitable, in common with all other outlying polar 
lands, except Greenland. For this reason the late and 
partly successful efforts of the Russians to colonize the 
southern island give a renewed interest to Nova Zembla. 

In this connection quite a number of Samoyed families 
settled about a dozen years since at Karmakuly, Moller 
Bay, in the northern part of Gooseland. There the cli- 
mate is milder than in their former Siberian home, vege- 
tation is abundant for reindeer and other animals, and the 
transition from summer hunters — migrating with the 
changing seasons north and south to and from the Sibe- 
rian mainland — to permanent residents of Nova Zembla, 
is not so great a change for the Samoyeds as would appear. 

It is unknown when the Novgorod hunters first visited 
Nova Zembla, but it was probably several centuries earlier 
than the fateful voyage of Willoughby in 1553, or of his 
successor Stephen Borrough in 1 556 (Chapter IV) . Some 
claim that Willoughby sighted Nova Zembla, but the opin- 
ion of Nordexskiolu is more probable, that the land seen 
was Kolgujef Island. This leaves to Borrough the honor 



I 



■ 










K 




NOVA ZEMBLA (Hydrographic Chart, U.S. NavyJ 



«ac>^-M-> 






I w 















£»**.• 












Nova Zembla 23 

of being the first European known to visit and give defi- 
nite information regarding the country. The way was 
shown, however, by Russian fishermen, one of whom, 
Loshak, called it 'New Land,' or Nova Zembla. Then 
as now the Samoyeds pastured reindeer on Waigat Island, 
south of Borrough (or Waigat) Strait, plied their boats to 
north or south, pitched their conical deerskin tents and 
set up bloody idols near their sacrificial mounds. 

On the adjacent mainland assembled each summer, 
coming distances of four or five hundred miles, Samoyed 
hunters and reindeer-owners for pasturage and game, fol- 
lowed closely by Russian traders for barter and specula- 
tion. Centuries have seen this routine of coming and 
going, until of late years, as Nordenskiold relates, a small 
permanent village, Chabarova, part Russian, part Samoyed, 
has grown up on the mainland south of Yugor Strait. 

The next knowledge of Nova Zembla resulted from the 
efforts of the Amsterdammers to reach China by sending 
a vessel round the north of the island. The duty was en- 
trusted to William Barents, a man of great perseverance 
and indomitable courage, a mariner of experience, an 
observer so skilled that modern observations confirm his 
positions, and a navigator so capable as to fear comparison 
with none other. Sailing, 5th June 1594, from Texel in 
the Mercury, 100 tons, Barents sighted, 4th July, Langenes 
Point, Nova Zembla, 7 6° 15' n., whence he traced northward 
the west coast beyond Cape Nassau. Here his progress 
was impeded by immense quantities of ice, but he finally 
reached, 31st July, the Orange Island, north of the seventy- 
seventh parallel. 'Finding,' says De Veer, 'that he 
could hardly get through to accomplish and . end his in- 
tended voyage, his men also . . . would sail no further,' 
Barents returned homeward. 

In his twenty-five days' struggle, from Cape Nassau to 



24 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

Orange Island and back, Petermann has shown that 
Barents put his ship about eighty-one times and sailed 
1546 miles, a remarkable voyage for a sailing craft of 100 
tons. Turning southward, Barents joined near Jugor Strait 
the Dutch vessels that had unsuccessfully attempted the 
southern route, and with them returned to Holland. 

Barents sailed the following year, with other Dutch 
ships, to try the route to Cathay by the Waigat Strait, 
which point was the farthest reached. 

Undismayed by unsuccess, Amsterdam decided to at- 
tempt once more the northerly passage, and sent forth, 1 8th 
May 1596, two vessels, commanded by John Cornelius 
Ryp and Jacob Heemskerck. Barents sailed as chief 
pilot to Heemskerck, but as the master was not a sailor 
the navigation of the ship necessarily devolved on Barents. 
After the discovery of Spitzbergen (Chapter V) and re- 
turn to Bear Island, the two ships parted, Ryp returning 
to Spitzbergen, while Barents, who had steadily asserted 
that their course was too far to the west, sailed east to 
Nova Zembla, which was reached 1 7th July. Following 
its western shore they rounded the northeastern extrem- 
ity without much difficulty. The coast then trending to 
the south, they had great hopes of complete success, but 
falling in with heavy and constantly moving ice-packs 
they were forced, 26th August 1596, into a bay, Ice 
Haven, on the east coast, from which the ship was destined 
never to emerge. 

A description of this wintering in some detail is not out 
of place, for the ship, not fitted with a view to such con- 
tingency, was entirely unsuited for habitation. Both the 
rigors of an Arctic night and the diseases incident thereto 
were unknown. Food was limited in quantity, fuel lack- 
ing, and clothing unsuitable. Wisely believing that a hut 
was their proper means of shelter, they determined on 



Nova Zembla 25 

erecting it. Exploring the country ' they found great 
store of wood . . . trees roots and all, driven upon the 
shoare, either from Tartaria, Muscovia, or elsewhere, for 
there was none growing upon that land, wherewith, as if 
God had purposely sent them to us, we were much 
comforted.' 

This drift-wood, their salvation from death by cold, was 
eight miles distant from the site of the house. To less 
energetic men it would have seemed impossible to haul so 
far timbers for the house, and wood for the winter's fuel. 
It proved a terrible task, not only in view of the physical 
labor, the increasing cold, and rapidly shortening days, but 
also from the fact that bears were so numerous and fero- 
cious that the men were obliged to go armed as they 
hauled their heavy loads over the rough country. 

Their sufferings from cold, confinement, and storm, 
their danger from bears, their courage, cheerfulness, and 
faith under such conditions, and the energy, skill, and 
perseverance with which they met all emergencies are best 
illustrated by brief quotations from the narrative of De 
Veer, one of the party : — 

' It blew so hard and snowed so fast that we should 
haue smothered if we had gone out into the air ; and to 
speake truth, it had not beene possible for any man to haue 
gone one ship's length, though his life had laine thereon ; 
for it was not possible for us to go out of the house. 
One of our men made a hole open at one of our doores, 
. . . but found it so hard wether that he stayed not long, 
and told us that it had snowed so much that the snow lay 
higher than our house. . . . 

' The beares came fiercely towards us, that had no other 
armes to defend us withall but onely the two halberds, 
. . . wee still gaue them worke to do by throwing billets 
and other things at them, and euery time we threw they 



26 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

ran after them, as a (logge useth to doe at a stone that is 
cast at him. ... At the last, as the beares came fiercely 
upon us, we stroke one of them with a halberd upon the 
snoute, wherewith shee gaue hark when slice felt her selfe 
hurt, and went away, which the other two yet were not so 
great as she perceiuing, ran away; and we thanked God 
that wee were so well deliuered from them. . . . 

' It frose so hard that as we put a nayle into our 
mouths (as when men worke carpenters worke they use to 
doe), there would ice hang thereon when we tooke it out 
againe, and made the blood follow. . . . 

' It was so extreame cold that the fire almost caste no 
heate ; for as we put our feete to the fire, we burnt our 

stockings before we could feele the heate \nd. 

which is more, if we had not sooner smelt than felt them, 
we should haue burnt them quite away ere we had 
knowne it. . . . 

'We ahvaies trusted in God that hee would deliuer us 
from thence towards sommer time either one way or 
other. . . . We comforted each other, giuing God 
thanks that the hardest time of the winter was passed, 
being in good hope that we should Hue to talke of those 
things at home in our ownc country.' 

On 25th January they were surprised by the return 
of the sun fourteen days earlier than it was due. This 
phenomenon has given rise to much discussion as to 
the cause, but it is probable that it was due to extraordi- 
nary atmospheric refraction attendant on extreme cold. 
The date appears well determined, although, their clock 
failing, time was kept by a twelve-hour hour-glass, which 
had to be watched and promptly turned. 

With advancing spring it became evident that the har- 
bor ice would not break up early, and near the end of 
May it was decided that their only hope of escape was a 



Nova Zembta 2J 

retreat by small boats to Lapland, distant more than a 
thousand miles. Two men had died, and two others, 
Barents being one, were sick. Finally, the 14th of June, 
they quit their winter quarters, and such was their sense 
of duty that they spared a part of room to bring back 
packets of their most costly merchandise. 

The strength of Barents was nearly spent, and every 
day of exposure brought him rapidly to the end. Cold 
and hunger, exposure and disappointment could impair 
his physical energies, but they could not break the 
spirit of the man, who died as he had lived, with his 
sense of duty and effort unchanged. 

Three times in strength and vigor, he had passed the 
north end of Nova Zembla, and now the fourth time, a 
dying man, came to it. De Veer says : ' And being 
at the Ice Point the maister called to William Barents 
to know how he did, and William Barents made answeare 
and said, Quite well mate. I still hope to be able to 
run before we get to Wardhuus. Then he spak to me 
and said : Gerrit, if we are near the Ice Point, just lift 
me up again. I must see that Point once more.' 

The end came, 20th June 1596", while he was con- 
ning and criticising the chart, whereby the boat 
journey was being made. De Veer relates, ' William 
Barents looked at my little chart, which I had made of 
our voyage, and we had some discussion about it ; at 
last he laid away the card and spak unto me, saying, 
Gerrit, give me something to drink and he had no sooner 
drunke but he was taken with so sodain a qualme, that 
he turned his eies in his head and died presently. The 
death of William Barents put us in no small discomfort, 
as being the chiefe guide and onely pilot on whom we 
reposed our selues next under God ; but we could not 
striue against God, and therefore we must be content.' 



28 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

The character and conduct of Barents were such as 
endeared him equally to master and to men. Of his 
voyages, Beke says: 'Barents made so many discoveries 
and traced so large an extent of coast, both of Spits- 
bergen and Nova Zembla, that the surveys of all of the 
whole of our recent explorers (1853), put together, are 
insufficient to identify all the points visited by him.' 

While Heemskerck was no seaman by profession, yet 
he had marine experience, and by no means played a 
subordinate part in the expedition. All matters were re- 
ferred to him, and his decision was final. His success in 
making the boat journey to Kola, after Barents' death, 
indicates that he then had the qualities of daring, decis- 
ion, and judgment which he so displayed in after years. 

As Motley says, ' Incapable of fatigue, of perplexity or 
of fear,' Heemskerck as a privateersman captured an 
armed Portuguese vessel of four-fold force. Later, as 
admiral of the Dutch fleet in 1607, attacking at Gibraltar 
a Spanish war-fleet of 21 ships, Heemskerck captured, 
sank, or burned every vessel, and thus ensured to 
Holland by the south the way to the Indies he had 
heroically attempted by the north. 

With the voyages of Barents, advances in geographic 
knowledge as regards Nova Zembla ceased for nearly two 
centuries, until the spirit of exploration that imbued Rus- 
sian sailors in the eighteenth century was turned toward 
the neglected coasts" of this desolate land. It is true that 
Henry Hudson in his second voyage visited the shores of 
Karmukal Bay, but unfavorable ice conditions prevented 
his reaching the northerly coast, and his journey to the 
southward added little to the results of his predeces- 
sors. Doubtless also the Dutch whalers of the seventeenth 
century passed to the northward of Nova Zembla, as have 
the walrus-hunters of to-day. In 1664 it is said thai a 



Nova Zcnibla 29 

whaler, De Vlamingh, succeeded in rounding the northeast 
point of Nova Zembla. However that may have been, it 
was near two centuries after the voyages of Barents before 
other information of value or interest was acquired. It is 
said that Sawwa Loschkin visited in 1 760 the unknown 
east coast, expecting to find an abundance of fur animals. 
The chronicles run that he wintered two years on that 
coast, attained a latitude of 76 09' n., reached the north- 
eastern extremity of the island, and returning by the west 
shore circumnavigated Nova Zembla. The results of the 
voyage appear to have been exaggerated, and were not 
utilized by his map -making compatriots. As Nova 
Zembla is now known to extend to 77 n., as set down by 
Barents, it could not have been circumnavigated in 7 6° 
09' n. Farther, the 1S64 chart of Erman, drawn after 
Russian data, leaves the east coast very uncertain to the 
north of 75°^ only three Dutch names appearing thereon. 

A few years later, 1768-69, the Russian pilot Rosmislov 
explored the region of Matotshkin Shar, which passage was 
said to have been long known to local fishermen, and 
there wintering lost his ship, a leaky, unseaworthy craft. 

The efforts of the Russian government during the pres- 
ent century have been productive of much valuable knowl- 
edge regarding the greater part of the coasts. From 1821 
to 1824, Lieutenant (afterwards Admiral) Lutke was en- 
gaged in exploring the west coast in a small brig. He twice 
failed to pass beyond Cape Nassau, his farthest point, but 
his observations laid down definitely and accurately the 
more southerly coast-line and its indentations, while his 
hydrographical contributions are valued both in their 
local and in their general relations. 

Between 1832 and 1835 Pachtussow surveyed the east 
coast as far north as Pachtussow Island, 74 24' n., thus 
making the most extensive contribution on record to our 



30 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

knowledge of this shore. He wintered twice on the 
island, explored by sledge and ship, and moreover made 
a most valuable series of observations, astronomical, 
geodetic, meteorological, and hydrographical. Few explor- 
ers have done more with equal means and opportuni- 
ties, and his voyages are the most remarkable in the annals 
of Nova Zembla. He paid for his unremitting exertions 
by his death, from overwork, at Archangel on his return. 
Zivolka, who accompanied him on the second voyage, 
died in an unsuccessful expedition in 1838. 

In 1 S3 7 the first scientific examination of the natural 
history of Nova Zembla was made by the well-known nat- 
uralist, K. E. von Baer, accompanied by the geologist 
Lehmann, and Lieutenant Zivolka. This voyage, confined 
to locations previously known, gave Baer great temporary 
reputation, which his energy and industry merited. He, 
however, generalized on the natural conditions of the 
eastern polar sea on scanty data, which led to conclusions 
not accepted in the light of fuller knowledge. Likewise 
his geographic elucidations were in most cases theoreti- 
cal, and resulted in the wide dissemination of errors that 
have only lately disappeared from our charts. In an ad- 
dress on Nova Zembla discoveries in 1838, Baer practi- 
cally adopted the Russian map of ZrvOLKA, and rounding 
off the island a short distance beyond Cape Nassau, 
omitted the entire northeastern part of Nova Zembla, 
which neither Baer, Zivolka, nor any other man had seen 
since the days of Barents. It is interesting to note that 
the land thus erased from the map was that part of Nova 
Zembla that had been most fully explored, it having been 
traced by Barents four times with such accuracy that 
recent observations only cause wonder for the correctness 
of the work with the rude instruments of his day. 

The dimunition of northern game in the northwestern 



Nova Zembla 31 

seas has turned in late years the course of hunting to the 
less accessible waters surrounding Nova Zembla. Among 
the many successful navigators are Carlsen, Quale, Ulve, 
Johannesen, and Palliser, the last an English sportsman 
who sailed half a degree north of Cape Nassau in 1869. 
Ulve, 1st August 1870, reached 76 47' n., 59 17' E., 
some 50 miles northeast of Cape Nassau ; and Quale 
in 1871 sailed to the east of the Obi, 75 22' n., 74°35' e. 
Wiggins in the Diana reached 76 N., 82 30' e. 

The most remarkable voyages are those of the Nor- 
wegian hunter, E. H. Johannesen, whose hydrographical 
observations during his successful navigation of Barents 
and Kara seas in 1869 won him a silver medal, presented 
by Nordenskiold in the name of the Swedish Academy of 
Sciences. The following year, after a most successful 
hunting trip in Kara Sea, Johannesen with a full ship re- 
turned to Norway by the north of Nova Zembla, passing 
its most northern point 3d September. In 1878, he 
made a more remarkable voyage. Rounding the north 
of Nova Zembla 2 2d July he discovered and circumnavi- 
gated in 77 31' n., 86° e., a small (Lonely) island snow- 
free and frequented by bears, birds, and seals. 

The voyage of Captain Elling Carlsen, in which he cir- 
cumnavigated Nova Zembla in 187 1, is yet the more in- 
teresting from the fact that his was the first ship, after an 
interval of 275 years, to follow Barents into the harbor 
of Ice Haven. Carlsen, in the sloop Solid, rounded 
Nova Zembla and anchored at Cape Hooft, where he fell 
in with Captain Mack. Together they carefully deter- 
mined the longitude of the most northeasterly point of 
Nova Zembla, which is in 67 30' e., instead of 73 e. 
as located on the sailing charts. They moreover deter- 
mined the trend of the northeast part of the island, 
which is quite to the north instead of to the northwest as 



32 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

charted. These observations, it may be added, confirm 
the accuracy of the old Dutch navigators. 

The winter quarters of Barents and Heemskerck were 

visited on the 9th, 12th, and 14th of September, and as 
many relics as could be conveniently obtained were 
brought away. The house, about 50 by 30 feet in 
size, was entirely decayed, but a coating of ice protected 
many articles, which were recovered in a wonderful stale 
of preservation. These consisted principally of books, 
engravings, carpenter's-tools, cooking utensils, candle- 
sticks, navigation instruments, portions of fire-arms, and a 
clock. Eventually these relics, 78 in number, passed 
into the possession of the Dutch government, and are 
now exhibited at the Hague in a model-room, the fac- 
simile of Barents' original house at Ice Haven. 

A Norwegian captain, M. Gundersen, visited Ice Haven 
in 1875, and an English sportsman, C. L. W. Gardner, in 
1876; both brought back other relics, those of Gardner 
comprising the record left by Barents, which is the only 
known writing of the great navigator. Gardner's obser- 
vations place the winter-quarters in 76 12' n. 

The establishment of a permanent Samoyed settlement 
at Karmakuly, Moller Bay, under Lieutenant Tyaghin, 
points to an ultimate knowledge of the interior of Nova 
Zembla, of which little is known. The location of the 
International station, 18S2-83 (Chapter XVI) on Little 
Karmakuly island, Moller Bay, not only resulted in the 
accumulation and discussion of the magnetic, meteorologi- 
cal, and hydrographical conditions of the southern isle, but 
also of the fauna and flora. The observations were not 
entirely local, for D r Grinewetsky in May, 1SS3, crossed 
from Little Karmakuly to the Kara Sea, and later visited 
Matthew Strait. 

The latest explorations of Nova Zembla have also I 



Nova Zembla 33 

scientific, principally by Russians. M. K. Nissilof passed 
three winters, between 1887 and 1S91, on the southern 
island, making valuable and extensive collections in the 
interior and discovering three islands near the coast. 
Engelhardt and Chernysteff in 1895, anc ^ tne eclipse 
expedition of 1896, contributed important physical data. 
In 1895 and in 1897 H. W. Feilden and H. J. Pearson 
made botanical and geological studies at Pachtussow 
Island, 74 24' n. D r Ekstam, in 1891, 1895, and 1901, 
studied ethnographically the Samoyede immigrants, whom 
he reports leading a precarious life, in small scattered 
camps, subsisting on wild reindeer, polar bears, and fish ; 
some years they have killed their dogs for food. In late 
years Russian officers, Vilitsky and Varnek, have made 
extensive hydrographic surveys along the coasts. In an 
expedition of 1901-02, Lieutenant Borisoff lost his ship, 
but by a sledge journey of 106 days to the interior dis- 
covered many rivers and lakes. 



Beke : De Veer's Three Voyages of Barents (Hakiuyt 
Soc. 1876); Sporer : Nowaja Semla (Erganz.-Heu. 
Petermann's Geogr. Mitth. Gotha 1865) ; Markham, A. 
H. : Voyage to Novaya Zemlya, 1879 (London 1881) ; 
Lamont : Yachting Voyages in Arctic Seas (London 
1876); Nordenskiold : Voyage of the Vega (New York 
1882); Toeppen : Die Doppelinseln Nowaja Semla 
(Leipzig, 1878; Paschoff (Mme.) : Nossilifs Voyage 
a la Nouvelle-Zemble (Tour du Monde, Paris, 1894.) 



CHAPTER IV 

THE NORTHEAST PASSAGE 

THE spirit of trade and commerce animated the origi- 
nal promoters of the search for a Northwest Pas- 
sage — a berated spirit, that nevertheless is the basis of 
the material prosperity which fosters civilization. 

Attracted by the great profits of the oriental trade, the 
enterprising merchants of England, as has been pointed 
out, sought the northwest way to India and China. When 
this proved impracticable, they turned for a passage to the 
coast of the Old World. 

The European part of the Northeast Passage, from 
the very situation, must have been known to Norse and 
Russian mariners from the earliest times. While the 
correct form of the Scandinavian peninsula was not 
mapped till 1539, by Olaus Magnus, yet Othere had 
rounded North Cape in the ninth century, and [STOMA 
journeyed from the White Sea to Trondhjem in 1496. 

As the first extended maritime venture by England in 
distant seas, the enterprise was viewed as one of no ordi- 
nary difficulty. Three ships were built and fitted most 
substantially, while great care was exercised in select- 
ing crews. Sir Hugh Willouchbv, a soldier of singu- 
larly energetic character, was given command, with two 
captains, Richard Chancellor, who had given many 
proofs of high capacity, and Derfouth. The ships — Bona 



The Northeast Passage 35 

Espcranza, 120 tons and 35 souls; Edward Bonaven- 
ture, 160 tons, 50 souls; and Bona Confidentia, 90 tons, 
28 souls — sailed from Radcliff, 30th May 1553. Their 
departure was marked by salutes and other demonstra- 
tions of public approval and enthusiasm, in which the 
common people and the king's courtiers equally partici- 
pated. The ships traced in company the coast of Nor- 
way around North Cape to Senjen, where Chancellor in 
the Bonaventure was separated from the fleet by a storm. 
The others proceeded by courses now indeterminate, 
but it is known that they reached an uninhabited ice- 
encompassed land, where shallow water made landing 
impracticable. The shoal sand-banks of Koljugev Island 
point to this as the shore, although others claim that it 
was Goose Land of Nova Zembla. 

Eventually Willoughby reached, 28th September, the 
coast of Russian Lapland, and wintered at the mouth of 
the Vafzina, on the barren Arctic coast of the Kola Pen- 
insula. Willoughby promptly made search in all direc- 
tions and found the adjacent country uninhabited. The 
conditions under which they wintered were such that the 
entire equipage of the two vessels, 62 souls, perished from 
scurvy. In the ensuing spring the startled Finnish fisher- 
men found the ships in good condition, manned only by 
a crew of unburied dead. 

The more successful voyage of Chancellor proved of 
vast and untold importance to England. Reaching Var- 
doe he waited a week for Willoughby, when, despite the 
dissuasions of certain of his party, he resolutely determined 
to proceed, — ' either to bring that to passe which was 
intended, or else to die the death.' Entering the White 
Sea, he reached a monastery on the Dvvina, where he was 
received with great hospitality. The Czar, Ivan the 
Terrible, being informed by courier of his arrival, invited 



36 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

Chancellor to Moscow. Passing the winter as guest of 
the Czar, he returned to England in 1554. 

The importance of Chancellor's discovery of a route 
to Russia through the White Sea was obvious to Eng- 
land. Commercial treaties were made which resulted in 
great and lasting benefits to both nations, and enterprising 
merchants organized in 1555 the Muscovy Company. 

NORDENSKIOLD says : 'Incalculable was the influence 
which the voyages of WlLLOUGHBY and CHANCELLOR had 
upon English commerce and on the development of 
the whole of Russia, and of the north of Norway, brum 
the monastery at the mouth of the Dwina a flourishing 
commercial town (Archangel) has arisen, and a numer- 
ous population has settled on the coast of the Polar Sea. 
. . . Regular steam communication has commenced along 
the Arctic Ocean far beyond the sea opened by Chancellor 
to the world's commerce.' 

The company did not relax its strenuous efforts to find 
a definite route by the northeast to China or India. To 
this end in the spring of 1556 they sent forth in the 
Searchthrift Stephen Bcrrough, one of Chancellor's 
companions. On 20th June BuRROUGH reached Kola, 
near which point he separated from CHANCELLOR, who 
was returning to the White Sea. At Kola were Russian 
lodjas, small rowing and sailing boats, in which these 
bold mariners ventured northward fishing for walrus 
and salmon. Burrotjgh visited the Petchora, and later, 
4th August, anchored between Burrou^h and St James 
islands, near the south end of Nova Zembla. To this 
point he had been accompanied by Russian fishing-boats, 
without whose assistance and guidance it is doubtful 
whether he would have reached Nova Zembla. Bl R- 
ROUGH attempted to pass the Waigat Island by the south, 
but owing to a severe storm, 3d September, returned to 



The Northeast Passage 37 

Colomogro for the winter, where he abandoned his con- 
templated project of reaching the Obi the next summer. 

Burrough brought to western Europe its first informa- 
tion of Nova Zembla and the Samoyeds (Chapter II). 
His discovery that the Russian fishing-boats navigated the 
White Sea, the waters of Nova Zembla, and even at times 
sailed to the Obi, gave great encouragement to the advo- 
cates of the Northeast Passage. 

The profits of the Muscovy trade, however, only accent- 
uated the disadvantages under which England and the 
Netherlands labored respecting trade with the Indies, 
from which Spain and Portugal were reaping such rich 
harvests. In the interval between Burrough's voyage 
to the northeast and the next (Pet's), Philip the Second 
has successfully asserted his claim — in 1580 — to the 
crown of Portugal, and the entire power of the Iberian 
Peninsula was exerted against the trade operations of 
the nations of northern Europe. Philip's arrogance and 
jealousy reached such a pitch that in 1584 he prohibited 
the Netherlands from even trading with Portugal. 

In this contingency the Muscovy Company made the 
first long step toward the Northeast Passage by sending 
out two able and courageous seamen, who sailed from 
Harwich, 9th June 1580: Arthur Pet in the George, 
40 tons, accompanied by Charles Jackman in the 
William, 20 tons. Pet's crew consisted of nine men 
and a boy, and Jackman's of five men and a boy, 
with which these adventurous men safely navigated this 
part of the Arctic Ocean with their tiny, ill-found 
barks. Pet made Nova Zembla in the vicinity of South 
Goose Cape, whence he turned south and, kept off shore 
by ice, missed Burrough's (Waigat) Strait, but coasting 
Waigat Island entered the mouth of the Petchora. He 
entered Kara Sea, according to the accepted belief, 



$S Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

through Jugor Schar or Pet Strait, but more probably, as 
Nordenskiold advances, through Kara Strait. 

These were the first vessels from western Europe that 
were ever forced into the Kara Sea, and the successful 
navigation of its ice entitles Pet and Jackson to great credit 
for their determination and judgment. Their voyage 
practically ended English exploration to the northeast, as 
the expedition of Wood and Flaws in 1666 ended disas- 
trously by shipwreck on the coast of Nova Zembla. 

The successful issue of the Spanish war greatly stimu- 
lated commerce and navigation in the Netherlands. 
Despite the destruction of the Spanish Armada, Spain and 
Portugal yet barred the way to the Indies by the southern 
route, and the Dutch now took up the northeast search 
with great energy. In 1594, three ships were sent out, 
the first under Barents, who attempted the search to the 
north of Nova Zembla. The two other ships, commanded 
by Nay and Tetgales, fell in with Russian fishermen, near 
the Petchora, who advised them as to navigation to the 
eastward. The Dutch landed on Waigat Island, 10th 
August, where the Samoyed hunters gave them correct and 
valuable information as to the Kara Sea, its extent and 
navigability, which they received with disdain. Eventu- 
ally the Dutch entered Kara Sea through Jugor Schar, and 
20th August reached the Kara River, which they supposed 
to be the Obi. 

Encouraged by these reports of Nay, the Dutch sent 
seven vessels the following year, 1595, Nay being admiral, 
with Tetgales, Barents, and others as captains, and 
Heemskerck as lieutenant. The farthest point reached was 
Staten (Mestni) Island, just within the Kara Sea, whence, 
as Nordenskiold says, 'we can state with certainty, from 
the knowledge we now possess of the ice conditions of 
Kara Sea, that the Dutch . . . had the way open to the 



The Northeast Passage 39 

Obi and Yenesei.' The fishermen of the Waigat informed 
them that Russian trading-boats sailed yearly past the Obi 
to the Yenesei, — a report which was confirmed by the 
Samoyeds who inhabited Taimur Land. 

The results of the third Dutch expedition under Ryp, 
Heemskerck, and Barents have already been described. 
The return of Heemskerck from Nova Zembla in 1597 
ended farther Dutch search in this direction, as in that 
year Houtman, returning with the first Netherland fleet 
from the East Indies, proved that the Dutch marine was 
able to hold her own. 

The unsuccessful voyages of the Dutch and English 
expeditions, in their efforts to discover a navigable Asiatic 
sea-route between the Atlantic and Pacific, did not de- 
ter Russian explorers. These latter mariners bent their 
energies to determining the outlines and limits of the 
northern coast of the continent of Asia, and especially to 
ascertaining how far along the Siberian shores coastwise 
navigation was practicable ; for in this quarter trade — 
their inspiration — could be expected. 

A more important element in eastward exploration than 
fishing and the coasting-trade was the onward march of 
hunters for the sable and other valuable fur-animals, which 
led the Russians into the Lena Valley by 1627. In 1636 
Elisha Busa, starting with ten other Cossacks to explore 
the rivers falling into the Polar Sea, reached in successive 
voyages (1637-1639) the Lena Delta, the Olenek to the 
west and the Yana to the east. About 1640 Postnik dis- 
covered overland the river Indigirka ; and as early as 1 644 
the Kolyma Valley, yet farther to the east, saw the erec- 
tion of a trading-post under the Cossack Stadukin, 
destined to be the centre of Russian influence and trib- 
ute-exactions. Here Stadukin acquired such knowledge 
of the Polar Sea, the New Siberian Islands, and a river 



40 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

(Anadyr) flowing into the South (Pacific) Ocean as led to 
extensive explorations. Although details are wanting, it is 
known that journeys were made to the new Siberian 
Islands from the Kolyma westward to the Lena, and that 
Simeon Deschnef, with three other Cossacks, making a 
sea-voyage from the Kolyma to Kamchatka, in 164X, dis- 
covered Bering Strait, and unconsciously determined the 
non-continuity of the continents of Asia and America. 

At this time five-sixths of the Arctic coasts of Europe 
and Asia had been traversed, all indeed except the shore- 
line between the Petchora and the Olenek rivers. The 
knowledge gathered was indeterminate and disconnected, 
so in the great survey, 1 733-1 742, the work was done 
anew in voyages and journeys which will here be very 
briefly summarized, except that of Bering (Chapter VI). 

In 1735-36, Muravief sailed from Archangel to the 
vicinity of Yalmal peninsula which was rounded by his 
successors, Malygin and Skuratof, who reached the 
gulf of Obi in 1 738, while Selifontof by reindeer sledge 
followed northward along the gulf to White Island (Beli 
Ostrov). This practically connected Archangel and the 
Yenesei, 47 degrees of longitude apart, as in the same 
summer Oftsin and Koshelef sailed from the Obi to 
the Yenesei, and Minin from the Yenesei passed beyond 
Taimyr bay, to Cape Sterlegof, 75 26' n. 

Meanwhile two expeditions sailed from Irkutsk down 
the Lena, in 1735, one under Pronchistshef, who 
reached the vicinity of the northern point (Cape Chel- 
yuskin) of Asia, barely failed of rounding it, and returned 
to the Olenek. Here terminated mournfully an Arctic ro- 
mance of peculiar interest. PRONCHISTSHEF took with 
him on this voyage his newly married bride, who, sharing 
her husband's perils and sufferings, died within two days 
of his death on reaching the I Hi ni k. She was then the 



The Northeast Passage 41 

only recorded white woman to reach such a high latitude, 
77 48' n., and held that peculiar honor until Madame 
d'Aunet visited Spitsbergen in 1839. 

Lieutenant Chariton Laptief took up the westward 
voyage in 1739, under orders from the Admiralty to com- 
plete the survey by sea or by land. From his farthest, 
Cape Thaddeus, 7 6° 47' n., he turned back and wintered 
on the Chatanga. The following year yielded no results 
save the besetment and loss of his vessel, three hundred 
miles from his old winter-quarters, their only hope of safety. 
This journey was made on foot in the beginning of an 
Arctic winter, across a desolate, uninhabited tundra. Day 
by day men broke down under excessive exertions and 
insufficient food, and no less than twelve men perished 
of cold and exhaustion. Nevertheless, Laptief continued 
his work by land the following spring, his endeavors being 
particularly directed to passing around the north point of 
Asia, — an exceedingly difficult task from its extremely high 
latitude, in 77 34', over six degrees to the north of the 
extreme northerly point of America, Boothia Felix, 72 n. 
His mate, Chelyuskin, reached this cape, which properly 
bears his name, in May, 1742, by a long and difficult 
sledge journey from the Chatanga, while Laptief and others 
explored the rest of the peninsula and ended voyages to 
the west. Chelyuskins's discovery of the northernmost 
point of Asia has been often questioned, but Norden- 
skiold puts his claims beyond cavil. 

The westerly voyage of Lassinius from the Lena, in 
1735, ended a short distance to the east of the delta in 
utter disaster, 53 of the 62 men, including Lassinius, 
dying of scurvy in winter quarters. Dmitri Lapteif, 
being then charged with the work, pursued it with such 
perseverance, resolution, and fidelity, as enabled him, 
in a succession of dangerous and difficult voyages, 1737- 



42 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

1742, to skirt the coast through 30 degrees of longitude, 
from the mouth of the Lena to Cape Baranoff, and reach 
overland the valley of the Anadyr. 

Thus gradually the northern coasts of Asia came within 
the knowledge of man, while the question of a Northeast 
Passage passed into the accepted list of impossibilities. 

The dormant question, however, was reopened some 
twenty years since through the exertions of a man whose 
interests and activities in Arctic matters were such as to 
insure a scientific and vigorous attempt to solve the prob- 
lem ; this man was Adolf Erik Nordenskiold. Born in 
Finland, 1832, his Arctic enterprises have covered a 
greater field than those of any other explorer, and his 
labors have been productive to an unprecedented de- 
gree of results important to science, and beneficial to 
mankind. From Bering Strait to Greenland, from Spits- 
bergen to Nova Zembla and Northern Asia, his voy- 
ages have invariably promoted the interests of science, 
advanced commercial projects, and stimulated co -laborers. 

When the question of a Northeast Passage was revived 
in 1875, Nordenskiold's experiences included the Swedish 
Arctic expeditions of 1858, 1861, 1864, 1868, 1872, and 
a voyage to Greenland in 1870, which with other later 
journeys are mentioned in their appropriate places. 

A preliminary journey being advisable, in 1875 M* 
Oscar Dickson equipped the Proven, 70 tons, manned 
it with twelve walrus- hunters, and put it at the disposal 
of Nordenskiold, whose scientific staff included KjELL- 
man, Lundstrom, Theel, and Stuxberg. Visiting Nova 
Zembla and making a rich harvest of scientific in- 
formation, Nordenskiold passed through Jugor Strait, 
2d August, and despite occasional delay by ice, anchored 
in the mouth of the Yenesei, at Dickson Harbor, 15 th 
August. The vessel returned to Tromsoe under Kjell- 



The Northeast Passage 43 

man, while Nordenskiold, Lundstrom, and Theel as- 
cended the Yenesei and returned overland. 

Nordenskiold's success in inaugurating a sea-route to 
Siberia resulted in his receiving the thanks of the Russian 
Government, but the complete success of this voyage was 
not convincing to some, who urged that it resulted from 
an unusual favorable ice season. To meet these objec- 
tions a second expedition was sent to the Yenesei in 1876, 
at the expense of M r Dickson and M r Alexander 
Sibiriakoff ; the land expedition was under Theel, while 
Nordenskiold, in the Ymer with Kjellman and Stux- 
berg, left Tromsoe 25 th July. The ice conditions of Kara 
Sea were unfavorable, but Nordenskiold overcame all ob- 
stacles, reached the mouth of the Yenesei 15th August, and 
returning was in Norway 2 2d September. 

These voyages not only proved the practicability of 
summer navigation from Western Europe to the Yenesei, 
but also resulted in extremely valuable scientific collec- 
tions and observations from the Nova Zembla archipelago 
and the Siberian coast. The Kara Sea proved rich in 
individuals and in types, yielding nearly 500 species; 
from Nova Zembla the species of known insects were 
raised from 7 to 100, and the knowledge of the vertebrate 
world of this region was similarly extended. 

Thus Nordenskiold's explorations on the north coast of 
Asia have not been barren geographic successes, but have 
resulted in benefit to Siberia and Western Europe. 

Repeated commercial voyages have since been made, 
— especially a series by Captain Joseph Wiggins, — which 
have been marked by various measures of success, but 
which as a whole have proved the Arctic route to be 
practicable and profitable. In 1889, two ships and four 
tugs left England at the end of July, and reached Karaul, 
160 miles up the Yenesei, in 39 days, and three weeks 



44 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

later made their return voyage in 26 days. This voyage 
Nordenskiold describes ' as an event rivalling in impor- 
tance the return to Portugal of the first fleet loaded with 
merchandise from India.' 

Not content with having inaugurated a sea-route of in- 
calculable value for the development of Northern Asia, 
Nordenskiold addressed the Swedish Government a me- 
morial setting forth the practicability of a voyage from the 
Yenesei to Bering Strait. He set forth the important 
scientific benefits that must result from such voyage, and 
clearly indicated its practicability in this age of steam. 

His arguments were convincing, and the greater part of 
the sum of $100,000 necessary for success was furnished 
by: M r Oscar Dickson, $60,000; King Oscar, and M r 
Sibiriakoff, Si 1,000 each. The Swedish Diet voted 
grants for equipping and provisioning the Vega, a steam- 
whaler of 300 tons burthen. Professor NORDENSKIOLD 
intrusted the command of the ship to Captain L. 
Palander of the Swedish navy, who with seven other 
officers and 21 men composed the personnel. The Vega 
left Tromsoe on 21st July 1878, accompanied by three 
other ships: the collier Express with coal for the Vega ; 
the Frazier with a cargo for the Yenesei River, and the 
Lena, which was intended to proceed to Yakutsk. 

The Vega found the Kara Straits ice-free, and here 
the Express transferred her coal, during which time 
the expeditionary force made ethnographic investigations 
among the Samoyeds. The ice conditions of the Kara 
Sea proved favorable, and the Vega — delaying for 
dredging, sounding, and other scientific observations — 
reached Dickson Harbor at the mouth of the Yenesei, 6th 
August, preceded three days by her sister ship. On 
10th August, the Vega and Lena steamed northeast- 
ward along the Asiatic coast, where they found the shore 



The Northeast Passage 45 

land laid down much too easterly, — in some cases a dis- 
tance of 80 miles on the new chart, although the origi- 
nal maps of Minin, who sailed in 1738-39, from the 
Yenesei to Cape Sterlegof, proved to be entirely accu- 
rate. Delayed somewhat by ice and bad weather at the 
western entrance to Taimir Bay, the Vega pushed on 
at the first possible moment, and on the 19th of August 
rounded the northernmost point of Asia and the eastern 
continent, Cape Chelyuskin, 77 33' n., 103 26' e., and 
anchored in the bay to the west of it. Nordenskiold 
was greatly elated at the passage of this cape, since it 
virtually ensured the accomplishment of the Northeast 
Passage. 

Sailing eastward, the following day the Vega made 
its most northerly latitude, 77 45' n., and although its 
progress was impeded by bad water and ice, reached the 
neighborhood of the Lena Delta. The Lena here turned 
southward to the river, while Nordenskiold, improv- 
ing the opportunity of an open sea and favorable weather, 
continued his voyage toward Bering Strait. Favorable 
conditions continued to the New Siberian Islands, where 
the shallowness of the water prevented Nordenskiold from 
landing on Liakoff, as he originally contemplated. The 
Bear Islands were sighted 3d September, and Cape Yakan, 
on the south shore of Long Strait and the nearest point to 
Wrangell Land, was passed four days later. For the first 
time progress was completely stopped on 12th Sep- 
tember, at the mountainous promontory of Irkaipi, the 
'■ North Cape ' of Cook, where, under similar conditions in 
1778, he turned back to Bering Strait. 

Gradually working its way southward as ice conditions 
permitted, the Vega reached Kolyuchin Bay, immedi- 
ately to the westward of Cape Serdze Kamen, on a bright, 
beautiful day, — the hearts of her crew cheered by the 



46 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

knowledge that they had only to round this promontory 
to pass safely into the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, the 
ice was packed so closely that further progress was impos- 
sible, and here, only 120 miles from Bering Strait, they 
were destined to remain the next ten months. Cold 
weather set in immediately, and by 1st October the 
new ice was strong enough to travel over, but, as whalers 
frequently navigate this sea far into October, NoRDEN- 
skiold was unwilling until the end of the month to believe 
that winter-quarters were inevitable. 

The Vega wintered off Pitlekai, a Chukche village 
in 67 07' n., 123 E. An ice observatory for magnetic 
observations was constructed on land, and a regular 
routine of scientific investigations was laid out for the 
winter. The most friendly relations were maintained with 
the natives, and with their aid sledge journeys were made 
over the Pitlekai peninsula. 

With increasing cold the Chukches gradually moved 
southeastward from the frozen sea at Pitlekai to the great 
lagoons of the Naisaka, where a plentiful supply of fish 
ensured subsistence during the winter. Every opportun- 
ity was improved to accumulate knowledge as to Chukche 
customs and language. During the winter NORQUIST ac- 
quired a vocabulary of about 1,000 words. Other mem- 
bers of the expedition made ethnographic collections, and 
kept up magnetic, tidal, astronomical, meteorological, and 
other physical observations. 

On 1 8th July 1879, the ice broke up and two days 
later the Vega, rounding East Cape with Hying colors, 
saluted the easternmost point of Asia in honor of the com- 
pletion of the Northeast Passage. Pt Clarence, St Law- 
rence, and the Commander Islands were visited, and 
2d September 1879, tne ^ c K a anchored at Oklahama, 
whence Nordenskiold sent forth to the civilized world the 



The Northeast Passage 47 

welcome tidings that after three centuries of effort the 
Northeast Passage had been made in a single voyage. 

Leslie well proclaims Nordenskiold and his comrades 
as ' worthy sons of the old Vikings, and as men who had 
made their names immortal ... by a splendid victory, 
achieved by human skill and daring over the powers 
of nature and the rigors of the Icy seas.' 

The successful voyage of the Vega has given an enor- 
mous stimulus to navigation along the Siberian coast. To 
foster and develop it has been the wise aim of Russia, 
which has despatched various expeditions to make hydro- 
graphic surveys of Kara Sea, the Gulfs of Obi and Yenesei. 

Col. A. J. Vilitsky from 1894 to 1896 did much im- 
portant work in the Obi and Yenesei, his magnetical, 
astronomical, and other observations making navigation 
safe, while adding new islands to our knowledge. 



Coxe : Russian Discoveries (London 1 780) ; Saryt- 
schew : Reise im nordostlichen Sibirien, 3 v. (Leipzig 
1805-15) j Burney : North- Eastern Voyages of Discov- 
ery (London 1819) ; Sabine: WrangeWs Siberia and Po- 
lar Sea (London 1840) ; Nordenskiold : Voyage of Vega 
(New York 1882) ; Wissenschaftlichen Ergebnisse der 
Vega Expedition (Leipzig, n. d.) ; Schokalsky : Rotcte 
Maritime de Sibirie (In Report 6th Geographical Con- 
gress. London 1896). 



CHAPTER V 

SPITZBERGEN 

THE archipelago of Spitzbergen is for several reasons 
the most interesting of Arctic lands. It is the 
largest known region of the uninhabited earth, it lies inter- 
mediate between the Old and New Worlds, its seas have 
been the richest in exploitable values, its shores enjoy a 
climate unequalled for its mildness in such latitudes, and 
it has served as a base for a larger number of Arctic expe- 
ditions than any other country. The flora is extensive, 
and among its fauna, reindeer were once so plentiful that 
in many successive years the Russian and Norwegian 
hunters have killed them by thousands annually. 

While Spitzbergen is uninhabited, neither the rigors of 
the climate nor the lack of available subsistence forbid its 
colonization. Until 1S30 the Russians had sent for many 
years parties to pass a single winter, so as to be on the 
ground for early spring hunting. Scharostin passed 15 
consecutive years on the island, and spent 1 7 other 
winters, till he died at Bell Sound in 1S26. 

The earliest wintering party, nine English sailors left 
by mischance, all perished. Four Dutchmen passed the 
winter safely in 1633, but at the same station four others 
perished the following year, which ended that attempt at 
colonization. Other parties have wintered, — some vol- 
untarily, others shipwrecked, — with various degrees of 
fortune or disaster. 



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Spitsbergen 49 

The first successful wintering is that related by Edward 
Pelham in " God's Power and Providence ; Shewed, in the 
miraculous Preservation and Deliverance of eight English- 
men, left by mischance in Greenlan (so Spitsbergen was 
then called) Anno 1630, nine moneths and twelve days. 
With a true relation of all their miseries, their shifts and 
hardship they were put to, their food, etc., such as neither 
Heathen nor Christian men ever before endured." Their 
courage, ingenuity, and industry brought them safely 
through, but they were favored by being at Bell Sound, 
the station of the English whale fleet, where there was a 
large, well-built house, timber in quantity, whale flesh 
available, and both sea and land game plentiful ; besides, 
they were well-armed. 

The most remarkable experiences are those of four 
Russian sailors, cast away on the desolate east coast, where 
they remained seven years, 1743-49. In addition to their 
usual suit of clothing they had on landing one gun and a 
few rounds of ammunition, which was speedily used in 
killing a few deer. They constructed a hut of the plenti- 
ful drift-wood that lines that coast, and cast about for 
means and methods to preserve life. Their experience in 
this polar land exceeded the romance of Robinson Crusoe. 
Searching the wood cast on the shore they shaped from 
suitable material arrows and spears, which were tipped with 
whalebone, and even a harpoon that was completed from 
their now useless guns. These were supplemented by 
bows that were strung with twisted entrails of the slaugh- 
tered reindeer. Suitable traps were devised for catching 
the blue fox, and nets for snaring the waterfowl. They 
labored not only with energy and industry, but with a defi- 
nite purpose of acquiring stores of fur and bone of 
commercial value. 

So assiduous and successful were they in the chase and 
4 



50 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

hunt that yearly there were made large additions to their 
stock of skins of polar bears, reindeer, seals, and fox. The 
sixth year almost discouraged them, when one of their 
number died, but the three others were rescued the fol- 
lowing year, when they had saved enough to ensure a 
considerable sum of money to each man. 

The most recent attempt to colonize Spitzbergen oc- 
curred in 1872, when Sweden and Norway consulted with 
other nations with the view of taking possession of the 
whole country, but Russia objected. The project, based 
on the reports of Professors Nauchorst and WlLANDER in 
1870, looked to the exploitation of phosphatic deposits 
at Cape Thorsden, where a Swedish company built a 
house, constructed a small railway, and commenced min- 
ing ; however, unprofitable results caused abandonment 
the same summer. 

Various claims of no moment have been set up to the 
discovery of Spitzbergen. The Russians were said to have 
frequented it for fishing prior to Willoughby's voyage, and 
the latter to have reached it in 1553. The former claim 
seems most improbable, and the latter was clearly set up 
as a ground for claiming an English monoply in the valu- 
able rights of its adjacent seas, which had been granted 
the English Muscovy Company in 16 13. 

The d'scovery of Spitzbergen is to be ascribed to 
William Barents and to John Cornelius Ryp, who com- 
manded one of the two ships sent by the city of Amster- 
dam, 10th May 1596, to accomplish the Northeast Passage. 
The second vessel under Heemskerck had as chief pilot 
Barents, the navigator already celebrated for having 
reached the north point of Nova Zembla. 

After attaining the 71st parallel Ryp kept a course 
northeast by north, which caused Barents to remonstrate 
as being far too westerly for Nova Zembla, The historian 



Spitsbergen 5 1 

of the voyage — De Veer, who sailed with Barents — ■ 
says : " We being not able with many hard words to 
purswade them, altered our course ... to meete them." 

Qn 9th June they discovered an (Bear) island, 74° 
30' n. 18, 40' e. Here they tarried four days, finding 
many birds and a white bear so large that, discomfited 
they returned from the first attack for reinforcements. 
Setting on the swimming animal with two boats, they 
" fought with her two hours, . . . and amongst the rest of 
the blowes that wee gave her, one of our men stroke into 
her backe with an axe, which stucke fast in her back, and 
yet she swomme away with it ; at last wee cut her head in 
sunder with an axe." 

Their course hence is a matter of doubt. Peterman 
and Beke believe that following the east coast they circum- 
navigated Spitzbergen. This seems most improbable, not 
only on account of the extreme difficulty of such a voyage, 
which has twice been made in modern times, but also, to 
my mind, from contemporaneous cartographic data ; more- 
over, they mistook Spitzbergen for a part of Greenland, 
which would not have happened did they know it to be 
an island. 

The New Map of 1600, part herewith reproduced, 
(p. n) shows only the west coast, as does the map of 
Hondius, in Pontanus' History of Amsterdam (161 1), 
constructed to illustrate Barents' voyage. 

Hessel Gerritsz, in his Histoire du Pays, nomme Spitz- 
bergen (Amsterdam 161 3), publishes Barents's log, which 
runs thus : — 

(5th June 1596.) " From Bear Island we set out, shap- 
ing our course W. N. W., made 64 miles . . . and N. W., 
60 miles. June 4, made N. 1/4 W., 88 miles ; ... we fan- 
cied we could see land to the north but were not certain. 
[This was probably Prince Charles Foreland.] June 15 



52 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

. . . Sailed until noon S. E., 20 miles, having attained 
78 1/4 latitude." This position could not have been un 
the east coast, nor could the land which was sighted 
17th June be made by sailing 16 miles s. S. w. from latitude 
So° io'. 1 

Bear Island was reached 1st July, when Ryp and 
Barents, being still unable to agree on their course, parted 
company. The latter sailed Tor Nova Zembla (Chapter 
III), while Ryp, returning northward again, successfully 
visited the north coast of Spitzbergen, without adding to 
former results. 

The discovery of Spitzbergen excited little interest at 
the time, but it was prominently brought to the attention 
of the world by the first voyage of Henry Hudson, else- 
where described briefly (Chapter XII) as North-] Hilar. 
His northerly progress prevented by an ice-barrier trending 
to the northeast, Hudson approached Spitzbergen, which 
was laid down on his chart, keeping a lookout for Voegel 
Hook of Barents, — presumably the northwestern point 
of Charles Foreland, — 7S 53' n. 

Hudson made this large island 2S June, 1607, and after 
circumnavigating it sailed northward and reached the 
northeastern part of Spitzbergen, Nieuland or flic land 
tuidcr 80 degrees of Barents. Sailing eastward from 13th 
to 15 th July, Hudson explored its inlets and islands and 
named several points, one being Hakluyt Headland. Shap- 
ing his course to the northeast he reached by observation 
80 ° 23' n. latitude, and two days later Si° n., by dead 

1 De Veer makes the date 19 and the latitude, So° ll', which cor- 
rected for error pointed out by Beke would be 79 49' N. The land 
high, snow-covered, and extending some thirty miles nearly v.. and 
W., was probably Red Bay, so that they had rounded West Spitz- 
bergen. Inspecting the islands near Hakluyt headland by boats, they 
made their way to the w. and s. and visited a number of inlets, 
probably Magdakna Bay, Ice Fiord, and Bell Sound. 



Spitzbergen 5 3 

reckoning. He turned back 16th July, on which day 
Hudson says, " wee saw more land . . . trending north in 
our sight, . . . stretching farre into 82 degrees." Beechy 
supposes this land to be Seven Islands, in 8o° 40' n., 
which is undoubtedly Hudson's farthest point, for his lati-. 
tudes were not always accurate in that day of rude instru- 
ments. Returning by the west coast he explored a part 
of Bell Sound, of which he gives an excellent description, 
Ice Fiord, and other estuaries. 

It is interesting to note that Hudson's Spitzbergen and 
other discoveries appeared first on the Hondius map 
published in 161 1, at Amsterdam, to illustrate the third 
voyage of Barents, during which this archipelago was 
originally discovered. 

Hudson's voyage was of vast industrial and commercial 
importance, for his discovery and reports of the vast 
number of walruses and whales, that frequented the seas, 
gave rise to the Spitzbergen whale-fishery. 

The voyage of Poole for walruses and exploration, in 
1 6 10, was followed by the establishment of the whale- 
fishery by Edge in the following year. Enterprising 
Holland sent its ships in 16 13, bringing in its train 
later whalers from Bremen, France, and other maritime 
centres. 

The whale-fishery, as the most important of Arctic in- 
dustries, — from which Holland alone drew from the 
Spitzbergen seas in no years, 1679-1 778, products valued 
at about ninety millions of dollars, — merits brief at- 
tention. 

Grad writes : ' The Dutch sailors saw in Spitzbergen 
waters great whales in immense numbers, whose catch 
would be a source of apparently inexhaustible riches. For 
two centuries fleets of whalers frequented its seas. The 
rush to the gold-bearing placers of California and the 



54 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

mines of Australia afford in our day the only examples at 
all comparable to the host of men attracted by the North- 
ern fishery.' 

England viewed with alarm the competition of the 
Dutch, and, in the interests of the Muscovy Company 
immediately claimed a monopoly of these fisheries, on the 
ill-founded assertion that Willoughby had discovered Spits- 
bergen in 1553. The English fleet seized by force the 
first Dutch ships, but worsted in an engagement with a 
Hollandish whale-fleet in 1618, England agreed to a com- 
promise, under which the Spitzbergen harbors were allotted 
equitably to various nations. The extreme north fell to 
Holland and the south to England, with France, the 
Hanse towns, and others intermediate. 

During the most profitable period of the Dutch fishery, 
1620-1635, it is within bounds to say that over 300 
Dutch ships and more than 15,000 men annually visited 
Spitzbergen; more than 18,000 men were on the coast 
in one summer, says LAMONT. It is definitely known that 
iSS whalers congregated at one anchorage in 1689; 
and in 1680 the Dutch sent out 260 ships, and about 
14,000 men, who made a catch valued at nearly a million 
and a quarter of dollars. 

About 1620, whales frequented the bays and immediate 
coast of Spitzbergen in such numbers that the fishers 
were embarrassed to transport homeward the blubber and 
other products. These conditions led to the summer 
colonization of Spitzbergen (and Jan Mayen), where es- 
tablishments for trying-out, cooperage, etc., were erected, 
as the most economical method of pursuing the industry. 
They were occupied only in summer, although the experi- 
ences of PELHAM and other English sailors, who involun- 
tarily wintered in Spitzbergen 1630-31, led to an attempt 
to establish a Dutch colony. The party of 1633-34 win- 



Spitsbergen 5 5 

tered successfully, but that of the following year perished, 
and so ended the experiment. 

The most remarkable of these establishments was at 
Amsterdam Island, where on a broad plain grew up the 
astonishing village of Smeerenberg. Here, nearly within 
ten degrees of the North Pole, 79 50' n., for a score of 
years, prevailed an amount of comfort and prosperity that' 
can scarcely be credited by the visitor of to-day. Several 
hundred ships, with more than 10,000 men visited it 
annually. These consisted, not alone of the whalers and 
land-laborers, but of the camp-followers who always fre- 
quent centres of great and rapid productivity. 

In train of the whalers followed merchant-vessels, 
loaded with wine, brandy, tobacco, and edibles unknown in 
the plain fare of the hardy fishers. Shops were opened, 
drinking-booths erected, wooden (and even brick) tile- 
covered houses constructed for the laborers or visiting 
whalemen. Even bakeries were constructed, and, as in 
Holland, the sound of the baker's horn, announcing hot, 
fresh bread, drew crowds of eager purchasers. If report 
errs not, even the Dutch frau of 1630 was sufficiently en- 
terprising to visit Smeerenberg, 79 50' n., and take 
away the credit of the farthest north from her Russian 
sister (p. 41) of 1735 .. . an< ^ her French rival, Madame 
d'Aunet, of 1839 (p. 57), 79 35' n. 

The shore fisheries soon failed (about 1640) and the 
Dutch being driven to the remote and open seas, Smeeren- 
berg fell into decadence ; the furnaces were demolished, 
the copper chaldrons removed, and the tools and utensils 
of the cooper and whaler disappeared ; only the polar 
bear remained to guard the ruins of the famous Spitz- 
bergen fair. 

Martens says of the few houses remaining in 1 671 : ' They 
are built after this fashion : . . . there is a stove before 



56 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

with a ceiling at top, and behind a chamber taking in the 
whole house : ... An anville, smith's tongs and other tools 
frozen up in the ice (were visible ) and the kettle was 
still standing as it was set.' 

But human interest in Smeerenberg did not pass away 
with its vanishing habitations, for on the shores of that 
bay rest the last mortal remains of a thousand stalwart 
fishers, who closed their lives of toil and struggle in view 
of the icy seas that had often witnessed their triumphs 
over the mighty leviathan of the deep. 

Storm-stayed and ice-beset no longer, their dust awaits 
the change and fate ordained by God's eternal laws. 
The aspect of this most northerly cemetery of the world 
finds its parallel in other Spitzbergen harbors. That in 
Magdalena Bay, 79 35' N., is thus described by Madame 
d'Aunet, who visited it in the Recherche t 1839. 'I 
counted fifty-two graves in this cemetery, which is the 
most forbidding in the wide world ; a cemetery without 
epitaphs, without monuments, without flowers, without 
remembrances, without tears, without regrets, without 
prayers ; a cemetery of desolation, where oblivion doubly 
environs the dead, where is heard no sigh, no voice, no 
human step ; a terrifying solitude, a profound and frigid 
silence, broken only by the fierce growl of the polar bear 
or the moaning of the storm.' 

The adventurous whalers naturally visited all ice-free 
regions in favorable years, and in this way the western, 
northern, and possibly the Hinlopen Strait shores were 
more or less accurately surveyed. Pool in 1610 named 
Bell Sound, Ice Fiord, and other points, and Bafi i\, in his 
second voyage with whalers to Spitzbergen, visited and 
named Wiches Sound (Wilde Bay), and Sir Thomas Smith 
Inlet (Hinlopen Strait). Phtpps 1 north-polar voyage, 1 773 
(Chapter XII), added nothing of importance to a knowl- 



Spitsbergen 57 

edge of Spitzbergen. His scientific observations and col- 
lections were comparatively scanty, and Beechy character- 
ized his surveys as incorrect and his charts as dangerous 
for navigators. Indeed, the account of Spitzbergen writ- 
ten by Martens, 1671, was not excelled until Scoresby 
published his Polar Regions, in 1823. 

Grad admirably sums up this account as follows : 
' Scoresby surpasses in extent, variety, and exactness 
everything written regarding the polar physics up to the 
beginning of this century. Seventeen voyages to Spitz- 
bergen enabled this gifted observer to fully describe such 
phenomena as are peculiar to these islands ; his book 
yet remains the initial point of all scientific polar 
research.' 

The Buchan and Franklin expedition (Chapter XVII), 
1 8 18, contributed pendulum and other physical observa- 
tions made at Dane Island, where Clavering and Sabine 
followed them in 1824. Parry's supporting party at 
Trurenberg Bay (Chapter XII), 1827, added materially 
to the scanty stock of physical knowledge of northern 
Spitzbergen, while in the same year the Dane, Keilhau, 
was investigating the geology of the southern coasts. 

Next in order France sent to Spitzbergen, in La 
Recherche, Captain Fabvre, a scientific committee, of 
which Gaimard, Marmier, Bravais, Martins, and others 
were members. They occupied Bell Sound in the summer 
of 1838, and Magdalena Bay, 79 35' n., the following year, 
when the party was accompanied by Madame d'Aunet. 
A great amount of valuable work, from which all branches 
of science profited, was done by the commission, but the 
most interesting was that of Charles Martins, whose in- 
vestigations of glaciers formed an epoch in the study of 
these phenomena. Martins's studies led to his brilliant 
generalizations on present and past floras. 



58 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

To no country more than to Sweden — with its gener- 
ous merchants and able scientists — is due the credit of 
investigating the natural history and the physical condi- 
tions of the Spitzbergen archipelago. A series of expedi- 
tions covering a quarter of a century was initiated, and 
in a large part conducted, by Otto Torell, chief geologist 
of Sweden, who, in 1858, sailed on the Frit/iiof with two 
assistants, — one of whom then commenced his successful 
career of Arctic investigation, — A. E. NORDENSKIOLD and 
Quennerstedt. Two months were spent in dredging the 
sea and scouring the land of the west Spitzbergen coast, 
especial attention being paid to the geological formations, 
glacial phenomena, and botanical work. NORDENSKIOLD 
distinguished himself by his discovery, by a snow-shoe 
journey, of rich fossil-bearing rock in carboniferous forma- 
tions, and Torell's visit to Horn Sound and Amsterdam 
Island resulted in a remarkable work, Mollusc-fauna of 
Spitzbergen, etc. 

Torell's next expedition, 1S61, contemplated a compre- 
hensive survey of the geology and natural history of Spitz- 
bergen archipelago, with geographic explorations to the 
north and northeast ; also determination of the practi- 
cability of measuring an arc of meridian in Spitz- 
bergen. The northward voyage was utilized in dredging 
the sea and in geologizing such land-points as were 
touched on their journey to Tmrenberg Bay, where TORELL 
landed after an unsuccessful attempt to force a pa 
around the extreme north of Spitzbergen. Physical ob- 
servations and research filled in the month of June, during 
which they were imprisoned by ice in this bay. The en- 
forced delay caused the abandonment of the proposed 
sledge journey to the far North, owing to unsuitable ice- 
conditions for sledging. In consequence, Torell, Nor] »i n- 
skiold, and Petersen undertook a boat voyage through 



Spitsbergen 59 

Hinlopen Strait, while Chydenius made a successful pre- 
liminary survey for measuring an arc of meridian. 

Later the same party visited the hitherto unexplored 
coast of Northeast Land, and passing North Cape, 28th 
July, visited the Seven Islands, and reached their farthest, 
Phipps Island, 5th August, 8o° 42' n. The 'distant high- 
land' of Parry (1827) was reached 12th August, and 
named Prince Oscar Land, and the day following, from a 
mountain 2,000 feet high, near Cape Wrede, there were 
visible two islands named Charles XII and the Lifeguard 
(Drabanten). Their farthest was east of Cape Platen, 
where ice conditions obliged their return. 

Unfortunately, Nordenskiold's next visit to Spitzbergen 
was in 1864, instead of 1863, when the ice conditions 
were exceedingly favorable for navigation. In this year 
(1863) the Norwegian Carlsen circumnavigated Spitz- 
bergen, the first time the feat was accomplished. This 
voyage was made from the west, which makes the surmise 
that Barents came up the east coast more improbable 
than ever. Coming from the south the highest latitude 
on the east coast is that of the Norwegian Nilsen, in the 
De Freia, 79 20' n., in 1872. 

The Swedish expedition of 1864 was placed under 
Nordenskiold's leadership, and with him were associated 
Duner and Malmgren. Their boat was one of only 26 
tons burden, with provisions for less than six months, 
there being neither room nor funds for more supplies. 

Forced to enter Safe Harbor at the mouth of Ice Fiord, 
they explored considerable portions of this magnificent 
inlet, and later examined portions of Bell and Horn sounds. 
Unable on account of the pack to go north, they rounded 
the southern cape of Spitzbergen, and in turn entered Store 
Fiord, and visited Edges Land and Barents Land. En- 
tering Helis Sound they ascended White Mountain, from 



60 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

which at a long distance to the east was visible very high 
land. They had discovered a new land or else re-discov- 
ered the western part of the land, which, first found by 
Edge in 1613, had been completely forgotten by some, 
its existence denied by others, and which found no place 
in the new maps. Unable to proceed toward this interest- 
ing land, owing to the ice, they again rounded South Cape, 
intending to follow the west coast as far north as possible. 
At Charles Foreland, however, they fell in with six boats 
filled with shipwrecked sailors coming from the north. It 
appears that three walrus-hunters, TOBIAS, AARSTROM, and 
Mathilas, reached the Seven Islands 3d August, when the 
open sea tempted them to sail around the north point of 
Northeast Land and down its east coast. Here they were 
beset, and, as the ice drew them steadily to the south, 
were obliged to abandon their vessels. By boat they 
reached Nordenskiold via Hinlopen Strait, travelling 200 
miles in 14 days. Farther explorations were thus pre- 
cluded, but Nordenskiold had the great satisfaction 
arising from his instrumentality in thus saving human life. 
Following this expedition, Nordenskiold and Dunlr 
produced a map — based on 80 different points, exactly 
determined in this and other expeditions by geodetic 
methods — which delineates Spitzbergen with an accuracy 
unattained as regards any other Arctic land. 

The Swedish north-polar expeditions of 1868 and 1872 
are elsewhere described (Chapter XII), but the latter had 
a more intimate relation with Spitzbergen than utilizing it 
as a base. Nordenskiold occupied Mussel Bay for his 
winter station, where his two provision convoys, Gladen 
and Onkle Adam, were ice-bound by a violent storm, 
1 6th September 1872. No provision for wintering these 
vessels had been made, and Nordenskiold and Palander, 
his captain and navigator, found themselves with 67 



Spitsbergen 61 

mouths to feed, instead of 24, which could only be done 
by reducing the rations of all by one-third. 

This course had hardly been decided on and winter 
quarters begun, when they were startled and dismayed by 
the arrival of four men with news that six walrus-vessels 
had been frozen in at Point Grey and Cape Welcome, west 
of Wilde Bay. There were 58 of these unfortunate men, 
and their provisions could be eked out by hunting, it 
was thought, till 1st December; after that starvation im- 
pended, — unless Nordenskiold helped them. To at- 
tempt to feed 125 men on provisions that were insufficient 
for 67 could only involve all fatally, but to refuse help 
was impossible to a man like Nordenskiold. 

Two additional sources of food were available. That 
year a Swedish colony was initiated at Cape Thorsden, Ice 
Fiord, where a railway and houses were built for working 
phosphatic deposits. Owing to circumstances, the man- 
ager had been obliged to abandon work and return to 
Norway, leaving behind a considerable amount of pro- 
visions. To reach these stores entailed a journey of 
nearly 200 miles, but the attempt must be made by some 
of the walrus- hunters. The hunters agreed to make this 
effort. The second possibility was to involve for many 
months daily sacrifices on the part of the Swedes in their 
attempt to utilize a large stock of reindeer moss as an 
article of food, which was done by baking moss and 
rye-flour mixed, thus producing a very bitter bread, 
which was, however, eatable. The moss was brought for 
the draught- animals, reindeer, of the north-polar sledge 
party, and its conversion into food meant the sacrifice of 
his cherished plan of exploration, to which Nordenskiold 
had given several years of his life. 

It may here be said that 1 7 walrus- hunters, under the 
veteran Mathilas, reached by boat Cape Thorsden, where 



62 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

they found all the necessaries of life, — house, fuel, working 
tools, preserved and dried vegetables, and fresh potatoes. 
They lived, however, principally on salt-beef and pork, 
remained inactive and packed themselves in one small 
room. This neglect of hygienic laws was followed by 
scurvy, and every man died. 

The situation at Mussel Bay steadily grew worse, for 
through improvidence or misfortune the remaining hunters 
informed Nordenskiold that their food would fail two 
weeks earlier than had been expected, and then they must 
depend entirely on Nordenskiold's supplies, which were 
later depleted by the escape, through neglect of the 
Lapps, of all his reindeer during a violent snow-storm. 
It was arranged that the Norwegians should join Nor- 
denskiold ioth November; most fortunately, however, the 
ice opened so that two of the vessels escaped, taking all 
the crews of the four others except two men who remained 
— and died that winter — in charge of the valuable 
cargoes. 

Nordenskiold neglected nothing that was conducive to 
the health or morale of the party. Games were played, 
schools opened, scientific observations made, dredging 
under the ice taken up, hunting followed (which secured 
five wild reindeer), and excursions made, which kept the 
men busy and in a measure healthful. Insufficient food, 
however, was followed by repeated outbreaks of scurvy, 
which proved amenable under hospital diet. 

When the end of April made travel possible Norden- 
skiold attempted his northern journey, but was stopped at 
Seven Islands by unfavorable ice (Chapter XII). Deter- 
mined to utilize his opportunities to the utmost, he decided 
to return round North East Land, in order to determine 
its geographic structure, to note the position of adjacent 
islands, to settle the disputed eastern boundary, and to 



Spitsbergen 63 

ascertain the character of its inland ice. Five days were 
taken to pass over the 23 miles intervening between Phipps 
Island and Cape Platen, the way being over loose angular 
blocks of ice, piled pyramid-like in heaps ten to thirty 
feet high. Reaching, 31st May, the extreme eastern end 
of the mainland, Otter Island offered from its summit, 330 
feet high, a view of miles to the east and north where no 
land was visible. This visit, however, confirmed the 
accuracy of Leigh Smith's survey by which North East 
Land was extended considerably to the eastward. 

The presence of a large water-hole to the south caused 
Nordenskiold to take the inland ice at that point, instead 
of following the coast to a more southerly point. This 
ice-sheet, some 2,000 to 3,000 feet thick, flows toward 
the east and so presents on that coast a precipitous ice- 
wall, insurmountable from the sea. Unbroken by moun- 
tain ridges, its sea-front presents the broadest known 
glacier. 

On 1st June they ascended the inland ice, where their 
first experiences were full of danger. Nordenskiold 
says : ' Scarcely had we advanced 2,000 feet farther before 
one of our men disappeared, at a place where the ice 
was quite level, and so instantaneously that he could not 
even give a cry for help. When we, affrighted, looked 
into the hole made where he disappeared, we found him 
hanging on the drag-line, to which he was fastened with 
reindeer harness, over a deep abyss. . . . He was hoisted 
up unhurt. ... If his arms had slipped out of the rein- 
deer harness, a single belt, he would have been lost.' 

Of the ice conditions he says : ' Along the level ice- 
surface every puff of wind drove a stream of fine snow-dust, 
which, from the ease with which it penetrated everywhere, 
was as troublesome to us as the fine sand of the desert to 
the travellers in Sahara. By means of this fine snow-dust, 



64 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

steadily driven forward by the wind, the upper part of the 
glacier — which did not consist of ice, as in Greenland, 
but of haul-packed, blinding white snow — was glazed 
and polished so that we might have thought ourselves to 
be advancing over an unsurpassably faultless and spotless 
floor of white marble.' 

The journey occupied fifteen days, which were marked 
by blizzards or ice- fogs, the latter so dense that every 
hollow had to be tested by lowering a man to determine 
the depth, ' it being impossible to distinguish by the eye 
whether we had before us a deep impassable channel or 
only a depression of a couple of feet.' 

Canals were fallen in with, from 30 to 100 feet wide, 
with parallel vertical walls sometimes 40 feet high. Over 
these canals were often found snow-bridges, that facilitated 
travel at the expense of safety ; for on one occasion, just 
as the party were about to cross over a depth that would 
have proved fatal in case of accident, the bridge fell. 

The original plan contemplated crossing to Cape Mohn, 
but a rugged terrain compelled Nordexskiold to turn to 
the west and descend into Hinlopen Strait, at Wahlenberg 
Bay, which was reached 15 th June, when it presented to 
the ice-weary travellers the first sign of summer in its 
flowering red saxifrages. 

The return journey was extended to nearly twice the 
time fixed, but the difficulties and dangers met with were 
more than compensated by the scientific results, especially 
in regard to the knowledge of the peculiar inland ice so 
materially different from that of Greenland. 

The return of NORDENSKIOLD, 23d May, was followed 
before the end of the month by flowering plants, returning 
birds, and the breaking up of the main ice-pack ; and on 
1 2th June the arrival and generous liberality of Leigh 
Smith placed the expedition beyond fear of the future. 



Spitzbergen 65 

The scientific researches connected with the Interna- 
tional Polar Station at Cape Thorsden in 1882 (Chapter 
XVI), and the botanical investigations the same year by 
Naathorst and De Geer and the exploration of the glaciers 
between Horn Sound and Recherche Bay by Nordenskiold, 
Jr. and Bjorling, in 1890, substantially close the record 
of Sweden's efforts. As to the results, it may be said' that 
they have been not alone of material benefit, but have been 
morally and intellectually profitable. Fishing interests 
have been fostered, as for example the profitable catching 
of the great northern shark, — one of the ten fishes added 
by Malmgren to the meagre number of four previously 
known in Spitzbergen waters. The archipelago has been 
traversed, examined, and charted in a most satisfactory 
manner, its geology studied, its plant life determined (the 
number of known flowering plants being raised from 5 7 
to 96), and its glacial features studied. 

Nearly 7,000 printed pages of scientific memoirs and 
books have appeared, many showing that the general ques- 
tions of the world need such data for their solution. While 
the contributions of Malmgren, Nordenskiold, Torell, 
and others have been valuable, yet an especial interest 
attaches to the investigations of Professor O. Heer, the 
author of Fossila Arctica Flora. Heer's astute and valu- 
able researches have clearly established the fact that at 
one time Spitzbergen was covered with a luxuriant miocene 
vegetation, — cypresses, birches, sequoise, oaks, and planes. 
It moreover appears that this growth was coincident with 
the period when Spitzbergen, Greenland, Franz Josef Land, 
and Nova Zembla formed an immense unbroken continent, 
which inevitably experienced a continental climate. 

The visits of Lamont to Spitzbergen, 1858, 1859, 1869, 
and 1 87 1, were for the purposes of hunting, but they 
afforded much information of interest in regard to the ani- 
5 



66 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

mal life of the archipelago. The voyages of Leigh Smith, 
187 i and 1872, have been of great importance geographi- 
cally, here as well as in Franz Josef Land (Chapter XV). 
In 187 1 with Captain Ulve in the Sampson, Smith, tracing 
the whole northern coast of Spitsbergen and North East 
Land, rounded the latter and reached Cape Smith on the 
unknown eastern coast. Later he attained 1S E., 8i° 24' 
(or 8i° 30') n., one of the highest latitudes ever reached 
by vessel, to the northwest of Seven Islands, — a close ap- 
proach to Giles Land. In 1872, as related, he succored 
the unfortunate Swedes at Mussel Bay. He also initi- 
ated observations of serial deep-sea temperatures in high 
latitudes. 

Doubtless the archipelagos of Spitzbergen and Franz 
Josef are connected by a series of islands. Most im- 
portant are two lands, Wiche and Giles, which have been 
endlessly discussed. In 17 17 Giles, circumnavigating 
Spitzbergen, discovered North East Land and another 
to the east in about 8o° N., which Nathorst with reason 
thinks to be White Island. Seen by Kjeldsen, 187C, it 
was visited and named by Sorexsen in 1S83. Nathorst 
circumnavigated it in 189S, and landing twice, found it 
to be almost entirely ice-capped. It is in 8o° 10' N., 
30 32' e. To the east, in 8o° oS' n., 37° 17' e., P. 
Nilsen discovered in 1898 a small island, Victoria, about 
50 miles from Cape Harmsworth, Franz Josef Land. 

Thomas Edge, in 161 7, 'discovered to the east of 
Spitzbergen, as far to the north as 79 , an island which 
he named Wiche Land,' which Conway tells us JORB 
Carolus had seen in 16 14. Its existence disputed, this 
land became mythical, but is to-day revived in King 
Charles Islands. Seen by E. Carlsen in 1859, 1863, by 
Nordenski-lu, Newton, Birbeck, and Tobiesen in 1864, 
by von Heuglin in 1870, and Ulve in 187 1, they were 



Spitzbergen 67 

first visited in 1872 by three Norwegians, J. Altman, 
N. Johnsen, and J. Nilsen, who, reporting mountains, 
scanty vegetation, and some animal life, located the 
islands incorrectly. Johannesen, Hemming, and H. An- 
dreasen, visiting the islands in 1884, discovered a third, 
and D r W. Kukenthal skirted the group in 1889. In the 
open summer of 1897, in which walrus hunters rounded 
Cape Smyth to Great Island, Arnold Pike, returning from 
the north coast of North East Land, circumnavigated 
King Charles Land, and astronomically fixed points on 
two islands. Nathorst in 1898 thoroughly explored the 
islands, botanically, zoologically, and especially geologi- 
cally. Carboniferous, Silurian, and Trias areas were de- 
fined, and the basalt found to be contemporaneous with 
that of Franz Josef Land. 

The voyage had other important results, as repeated 
soundings in the Swedish deep showed a maximum of 
1,720 fathoms, against 2,650 reported by the Sophia 
in 1868. Nathorst also surveyed Bear Island, which 
Keilhau has described as ' a skeleton of the Earth, 
stripped absolutely naked.' Nathorst discovered three 
geological systems, and describes coal so plentiful that 
exploitation must follow. Renewed industrial activity is 
therefore possible for Bear Island. Abandoned by the 
English when the seventeenth century walrus hunting 
tyas no longer profitable, the island for two centuries was 
the summer base of Russian and Norwegian fishermen, 
S. Tobiesen wintering there in 1865. German fishermen 
attempted to monopolize its advantages in 1898, but 
Russia asserted the rights of its subjects to their ancient 
privileges. 

Since the discovery of Spitzbergen explorations have 
been almost entirely confined to its coasts. In 1896, 
however, Sir Martin Conway, A. Trevor- Battye, and 



68 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

others planned and carried out the crossing of the island. 
Overland journeys were made from Advent Day northeast 
to Van Mijen and Sassen Bays, thence back via Agardh 
Bay. About 600 square miles of central Spit/bergen 
were surveyed, proving to be alternating mountains and 
ice-boggy valleys with fertile slopes, in striking contrast to 
the ice-capped coasts. CONWAV almost circumnavigated 
the main islands, penetrated the great fiords, skirted 
North East Land between Capes Platen and Mohn, and 
landed at Seven Islands. Photographic records and bo- 
tanical, geological, and zoological collections of Conway's 
expedition add much to our physical knowledge of this 
interesting land. 

Conway returned to Spitzbergen in 1S9S with E. J. 
Garwood, in order to ascertain whether the interior was 
anywhere ice-capped. From the northern arms of Ice 
Fiord they worked both to the west towards Foreland 
Sound and northeast from Klaas Bay. In the first trip 
they reached the glacier near Chydeni Hill, 1,500 feet 
elevation. Starting later from King's Bay, Conway and 
Garwood penetrated to the east of Three Crowns, ascend- 
ing both the Middle Crown and also the Diadem, 4,150 
feet high. In all directions were seen snowy hills inter- 
laced by a network of n&ves and glaciers. Conway believes 
that no extended area of Spitzbergen is covered by a con- 
tinuous ice-cap except New Friesland and North Fast 
Land. His explorations have been most important geo- 
logically with reference to glacial action. 

In the summers of 1S99 and 1902, through international 
co-operation, a meridional arc of 4 11' was measured. 
The Russians under T. H. CHERNICHEF, and Swede.-, under 
G. de GEER and V. CARLHEIM-GYLLENSKOLD, carried out 
the work between 76 3S' and So° 49' \. In addition 
large areas were mapped and important geological re- 



Spitsbergen 69 

searches made, delimiting Carboniferous, Silurian, and 
Trias formations. 

During the past few years Spitzbergen has become 
a resort for summer tourists. Excursion steamers visit 
annually the ice-free sounds of its southwestern coast, 
where for a few years there were hotel accommodations 
and the most northerly post-office of the world. . Under 
these conditions a maximum of Arctic experiences is 
obtained with a minumum of discomfort. 



White : Spitzbergen and Greenland (Hak. Soc, London 
1 855 ) ; Petermann : Spitzbergen u. d. Ark Use lie Central 
Region (Erganz.-Heft No. 16, Peterm. Mitth. Gotha 
1862); Grad : lies Spitzbergen (Paris 1866); Leslie: 
Voyages of Nordenskiold, 1858-1878 (London 1879). 
For Jan Mayen, see Wohlgemuth, Chapter XVIII ; see 
p. 33 ; Haufen : Brief e aus den hohen Nor den (Frauen- 
feld 1900). 



CHAPTER VI 

BERING STRAIT 

THE much discussed question as to how America 
was first peopled has for a battle-ground the Ber- 
ing Strait region. Whether America was peopled from 
Asia, or the reverse migration occurred, there is no doubt 
that this narrow channel has for centuries been passed 
and repassed by the littoral tribes of Asia and America. 
It is well known that from the beginning of the 16th cen- 
tury the natives of the two continents have maintained 
intercommunication for barter. 

The populations of the two shores are widely separated, 
from the racial standpoint, the warlike, property-holding 
Chuckches to the west, the peaceful and semi-communis- 
tic Eskimo to the east ; both again differing from the 
Aleut to the south. 

There are two classes of Asiatic natives — there being 
about 2,000 of each — the reindeer and the coast 
Chuckches. The latter being without deer, live a half- 
nomadic, half-permanent life along the coast of Bering 
Strait, where they have intermixed somewhat with the 
Aleuts and Eskimo. The other division, reindeer-owning 
nomads, who live by trade and reindeer-raising, wander 
over the region between the Indigirka and the strait. 

The Chukches seem to be the only Siberian race that 
has had sufficient moral force and physical bravery to 
withstand the tribute-exactions of Russian officials and 



Bering Strait Ji 

the enslaving methods of the fur-trader. The efforts of 
the Russians — under Schestakof, 1730, and Pavlutski, 
1 73 1 — to subdue and enforce tribute from the Chuck- 
ches proved costly and fruitless. The adoption of a con- 
ciliatory policy and the withdrawal of the enormously 
expensive garrison of Anadyrsk, resulted in the establish- 
ment of peaceful relations with these tribes, which have 
continued. Saryschef, 1798, Wrangel, 1823, Lutke, 
1826-27, Hooper, 1849, Ditmar, 1853, and others have 
described the Chuckches before frequent communication 
with Europeans had modified their environment. 

One of the islands of Bering Strait, St. Lawrence, dis- 
covered by Bering, 1728, was first visited by Billings, 1st 
August 1 79 1. The generation seen by Kotzebue, 27th 
June 1816, and 20th July 1817, had never seen Euro- 
peans, but they received him with great, indeed embar- 
rassing kindness. Occasionally they are visited by 
explorers, notably Nordenskiold, 1879, and in later years 
by whalers and traders, not always to the advantage of the 
natives. Walrus frequent in large numbers the island, thus 
affording food for the improvident natives. In 1880-81 
about 200 natives died of starvation owing to illicit whis- 
key-trading, which diverted them from the hunt when 
game was plenty. 

The first important contribution to a knowledge of the 
Eskimo of Bering Strait was made by Surgeon John 
Simpson, H. M. S. Plover, from his observations 1851-53. 
He confirms the report of traffic by means of Chukche 
boats, between (East) Cape Deshnef, Diomede Islands, 
and Cape Prince of Wales. While the coast near Icy Cape 
was occupied in 185 1 by Eskimo, yet Point Barrow was 
the favorite camping-ground, from the unusual facilities 
it affords the entire year for seal-fishing. The establish- 
ment of the international polar station at Point Barrow, 



72 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

1882-83, resulted in very complete and interesting 
accounts of these Eskimo by John Murdoch (Chapter 
XVI). 

The action of the United States in building at Point 
Barrow a relief station for shipwrecked mariners, and 
the frequenting of the station by whalers and trading 
vessels have naturally caused material changes in the 
habits and surroundings of these Eskimo. The condition 
of the natives near Cape Prince of Wales has been mate- 
rially improved by the United States, through the efforts 
and recommendations of D r Sheldon Jackson, whereby 
schools have been opened, and, of more immediate bene- 
fit, reindeer imported from the Asiatic coast. 

The first passage of Bering Strait was the outcome of 
commercial enterprises, resulting from the efforts of the 
Russian traders at the mouth of the Colima to extend 
eastward their trading operations. The successful voyage 
of Isai Ignatief in 1646, whereby he visited the Chuck- 
ches to the eastward of the Colima and traded for walrus 
ivory, inspired Simon Deshnef to an unsuccessful voyage 
in search of the reputed Anadyr River. 

Renewed efforts in 1648 led to the departure from the 
Colima of seven vessels. Four were soon disabled, but 
three, commanded by Deshnef, Alexief, and Ankudinof, 
found the sea very open, and, rounding successfully the 
northeast extremity of Asia, passed into Bering Strait. 
Shipwreck, hostile encounters, and disease destroyed the 
entire expedition except Deshnef and his crew, who 
escaped from the wreck of their vessel on the coast of 
Kamchatka, south of Anadyr Bay. Supporting themselves 
by the chase during the winter, on the banks of the 
Anadyr, Deshnef's party ascended that stream the follow- 
ing year, and built the post of Anadyrsk, thus found- 
ing the first civilized settlement in the Bering Strait 



Bering Strait 73 

region. Traditionally, in 1654, a trader named Stadukin 
following Deshnef's route, had circumnavigated Cape 
Deshnef and reached Kamchatka and the Kurile Islands. 

Gradually reinforced overland in the coming years by 
traders, — mostly Cossacks, — the Russians extended their 
sway over the adjacent regions. In 1711, Popof, visiting 
East Cape, or Cape Deshnef as Nordenskiold proposes 
to call it, to exact tribute from the Chuckches, brought 
back an account of islands (Diomedes) and a continent 
(America) to the eastward, a report of the contiguity of 
America which was the cause of Bering's later voyages. 

The voyages of Vitus Bering, from whom the strait de- 
rives its name, resulted from the action of Peter the Great, 
who, in the last year of his eventful life, planned one of 
the greatest geographic expeditions ever recorded. It 
is known as the Great Northern Expedition, and its exe- 
cution, after Peter's death, entailed 17 years (1725- 
1742) of effort on the part of the explorers, and is said 
to have impoverished many tribes by its heavy exactions 
of supplies and unceasing demands for transportation. 

The series of voyages and journeys that explored the 
northern coasts of Asia have been elsewhere recorded 
(Chapter IV), but they were expeditions supplementary 
to the first voyage to Kamchatka, which., organized under 
Empress Anne, left St. Petersburg 4th February 1725, 
under command of Bering, a Dane in the Russian service. 

The overland journey across Siberia, the accumulation 
of supplies at Okhotsk and the construction of a vessel at 
that remote port, involved almost insuperable and innum- 
erable delays. It was 30th June 1727 before Spanberg, 
Bering's assistant, sailed in his newly completed 
vessel, Fortuna, with supplies, material, and workmen 
for ship-building, across the sea of Kamchatka to Bol- 
sheretsk. Another winter passed in accumulating sup- 



74 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

plies, getting out ship-timber, and in other essential work 
at Lower Kamchatka, 5 6° 15' n., 162 w. Finally, in 
June the Gabriel was launched, and on 24th July 1728 
Bering sailed out of the Kamchatka River, after three 
years and four months of preparation for a voyage that 
lasted seven weeks. Coasting northward, he met in 
about 64 30' n., a party of Chukches, navigating the 
Gulf of Anadyr, who informed him that a short distance 
to the northeast the mainland took a decided turn, 
changing its direction to the north and west. 

Pursuing his way, the day of Saint Lawrence brought 
Bering to an island, which he named for the patron saint. 
Passing East Cape, 26th August, the Gabriel coasted 
along the Asiatic shore to the neighborhood of 67 18' 
n., 170 w. From this point Bering turned back; as 
he says, ' because the land no longer extended north. 
Neither from the Chukche coast nor to the eastward could 
any extension of the land be observed. If we should con- 
tinue on our course and happen to have contrary winds 
we could not get back to Kamchatka before the close of 
navigation.' Chaplin, his lieutenant, says that BERING 
turned back ' in spite of his instructions.' In any event, 
this voyage added nothing to the discoveries of Deshnef 
in 1648, since the words above quoted indicate clearly 
that the American continent to the eastward was not seen, 
contrary to the opinion sometimes advanced. 

Wintering on the Kamchatka River, Bering feebly at- 
tempted farther explorations in 1729, sailing 1 6th June to 
the eastward in search of land that was said to be visible 
on fine days. His voyage did not exceed a hundred 
miles and lasted less than three days, when the search 
was abandoned. Waxel says that Bering had no intention 
of returning to Kamchatka River ; however that may be, 
he did not do so, but instead rounded the south cape of 



Bering Strait 75 

Kamchatka, and landing at Bolsheretsk 13th July, made 
his way overland as speedily as possible to St. Petersburg, 
which he reached 12th March 1730. 

While Bering was returning to report the result of his 
expedition, Tschirikof was endeavoring to reduce the hos- 
tile Chukches ; and in a co-operating voyage the navigator 
Michael Gwosdef visited, in 1 7 3 1 , Cape Szerde Kamen, 
whence an easterly storm drove him to anticipate Bering 
in discovering the coast of America, along which Gwosdef 
coasted two days before returning to Kamchatka. 

Bering had been absent five years from St. Petersburg, 
and the essential object of his voyage — to determine 
whether or not Asia and America were separated — was 
undetermined, much to the disappointment of its pro- 
moters. Despite criticism, the Empress Anne listened to 
the representations of Bering, and gave orders for a second 
expedition on a more extended scale under his command. 
In the spring of 1733 Bering left St. Petersburg with his 
former lieutenant, Spanberg, and other officers. Assigned 
to the specific duty of making discoveries to the south- 
ward, Spanberg sailed from Kamchatka in 1739, and 
extended his explorations along the Kurile islands to 
Japan. 

It was not until September 1740, seven years after his 
second departure from St. Petersburg, that Bering with 
Tschirikof left Ohkotsk, and rounding Kamchatka an- 
chored at the port of Avatcha, now Petropaulovsk, where 
he wintered. On 15 th June 1741, Bering's final expe- 
dition sailed from Petropaulovsk. With the commander 
in the St Peter were Lieutenant Waxel and William 
Steller, the latter a German physician and naturalist of 
great promise, while Tschirikof, in the St Paul, was ac- 
companied by De la Croyere, an astronomer. They were 
to sail in company, with the purpose of discovering the 



?6 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

northwest coast of America, and of definitely determining 
whether or not its shores united with those of Asia. Val- 
uable time and favorable weather were wasted in search- 
ing to the southeast for the mythical land of (lama. 
Eventually they turned their course to the northeast, but 
the eighth day out they parted during foggy weather. 

Tschirikof, sailing to the northeast, reached, 26th July, 
the American coast in the vicinity of Cross Bay. A violent 
sea beating against a precipitous, rocky coast, caused him 
to keep some distance off shore. Unable to make a safe 
harbor, on the third day he sent his mate, Abraham 
Dementief, with ten men to examine the adjacent coun- 
try. Day after day passed with no sign of the land party, 
and Tschirikof, much alarmed at its prolonged absence, 
sent, 4th August, the boatswain, Sldor Safelef, with three 
men in his only remaining boat. No man of either party 
was ever seen again, and their fate is entirely conjec- 
tural. Meanwhile continual smoke indicated the presence 
of natives, who showed themselves, two men in different 
canoes, 26th July, and after hailing the vessel in an unknown 
tongue disappeared. The following day Tschirikof, de- 
spairing of again seeing his men, determined to explore 
as much of the new land as was possible and then return 
to Kamchatka. He followed the coast more than a hun- 
dred miles, hindered by contrary winds and frequent fogs. 
Once his vessel barely escaped stranding, and he was ap- 
proached by 21 natives in kayaks, or leather boats 
holding a single man. They spoke an unknown lan- 
guage, but De la Croyere assured Tschirikof that they 
were like the natives he had intimately known in Canada. 
Lack of fresh water and suitable food was accompanied 
by outbreaks of scurvy, from which both of his lieutenants 
and others of his crew died. Under these conditions 
return to Petropaulovsk was imperative, and Tschirikof 



Bering Strait yj 

safely entered that port, 21st October 1 741, losing by death 
his astronomer the same day. 

Bering's explorations were much of the same order as 
those of his comrade. The American coast was reached 
29th July, between Capes St. Ehas and St. Hermogenes. 
Here he remained three days. A party was landed for 
fresh water, an opportunity eagerly improved by Steller 
to gain information as to the country and inhabitants. He 
found freshly cooked food, and sent his Cossack back to 
bring up a party to follow the traces, but Bering impera- 
tively ordered his instant return to the ship. While Stel- 
ler naturally complained of Bering's timidity, it was fully 
justified by the fate of Tschirikof's parties. 

Consulting with his officers, Bering decided to return, 
and weighing anchor before sunrise, 31st July, followed 
the coast to the westward. Entangled in the coast-wise 
islands he took to the open sea, where contrary winds and 
storms retarded his progress. Water failing, he made an 
island, named Shumagin, from a sailor he buried there, 
where the supply taken from a lake proved to be brackish 
and unhealthy. Frequent camp-fires seen at night caused 
them to keep a close lookout for natives. None were 
seen until 15 th September, when some kayakers appeared 
and made friendly overtures toward trade, but mis- 
understandings soon broke off all commerce. Proceed- 
ing two days later, islands were so numerous that Bering 
then turned more to the south; here, in 51 n. latitude, 
near a number of coast islands, a violent storm of 1 7 
days' duration left them in sad condition, short of pro- 
visions and with only a third of their original crew for duty. 
Two islands were seen 10th November, when Bering 
stood to the north, and 15th November found himself in 
5 6° n. The day following the vessel stranded on a sand- 
shoal of a desert (Bering) island, and speedily broke up. 



7$ Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

Fortunately the whole party reached shore, and yet more 
fortunately the remains of their ship were driven up within 
their reach, which circumstance proved their ultimate sal- 
vation, the gathered timbers serving as material for a boat 
the following spring. There was not a tree on the island, 
but the drift-wood was so abundant that they built huts. 

BERING, previously sick, was now utterly discouraged, and 
refusing to eat, drink, or accept the shelter of a hut, died 
19th December 1 741. Waxel says : ' We younger persons 
recovered our spirits, took courage, resolved to do our 
utmost, and leave no means untried to save our lives.- 
The energy, resolution, and skill of this young officer, on 
whom the command now devolved, proved equal to the 
situation and secured the safety of the party. In this he 
was ably seconded by the professional skill and personal 
efforts of D r Steller, whose industry, cheerfulness, and ap- 
plication were unbounded. He thus sums up the misery 
of the whole winter : ' Want, nakedness, frost, rain, ill- 
ness, impatience, and despair were our daily companions.' 
The ambition of the naturalist did not desert Sti.i 1 ik, 
and his observations on Bering Island, made under des- 
perate conditions, are most valuable contributions, bear- 
ing as they do on the extinct sea-cow and on other species 
of sea animals previous to their being so closely pursued 
by hunters. Steller's labors were repaid by most cruel 
treatment from the Russian Government. Persecuted and 
hounded by jealous and suspicious officials till he was 
broken in health and spirit, he perished miserably in the 
wilds of Siberia at the early age of 37. It is interesting to 
note that an American expedition, in 1882—83, visited the 
Commander (Bering and adjacent) Islands, for research 
as to their physical conditions, fauna, and flora. The re- 
sults have appeared in a series of memoirs by Leonarh 
Stejneger admirably treating of these subjects. 



Bering Strait ■ 79 

Bering discovered neither the sea nor strait that bear 
his name, his voyage to America was preceded by that of 
Gwosdef, and he left the question of the separation of the 
two great continents as he found it, practically unsettled. 
Yet his voyages were fruitful in geographic results, for 
by their accounts the hitherto legendary knowledge of 
this region was first put in accessible and fairly accurate 
shape. After saying : ' Bering delineated the (Asiatic) 
coast very well, and fixed the latitude and longitude of 
the points better than could be expected from the methods 
he had to go by,' Cook, the navigator, shrewdly and 
justly adds : ' His misfortunes proved to be the source of 
much private advantage to individuals, and of public 
utility to the Russian nation.' 

The wintering at Bering Island proved to be the begin- 
ning of a pursuit that has added scores of millions of dol- 
lars to the wealth of the world. The island was infested 
by the rare blue fox in such numbers as to be most an- 
noying to the shipwrecked crew, while the extremely val- 
uable sea-otter were so plentiful and tame that they were 
killed with the greatest ease. Appreciating the value of 
these skins, the shipwrecked mariners secured more than 
900, and brought with them to the mainland furs to the 
value of $100,000, — which we may believe, as Waxel 
says, ' made us some amends for our sufferings.' 

Three years after the return of Bering's shipwrecked 
crew, in 1745, Michael Novidiskof, sailing eastward from 
Kamchatka in an open frail craft, reached Attoo, the most 
westerly of the Aleutian Isles, in search of the sea-otter. 
His success excited the cupidity and stimulated the activ- 
ity of other adventurous hunters and traders. 

Possessed by a love of gain that no danger could appall, 
other Russian traders pushed undauntedly eastward from 
Kamchatka in their frail shallops, most of them called 



So Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

sewn-boats, moss-calked and merely timbers lashed to 
frames, until one after one the Ioiil: line of Aleutian 
Islands and portions of the Alaskan mainland fell within 
their knowledge, and experienced their atrocious visita- 
tions. . Prominent actors in these successes were TRAPKS- 
NIKOF, GlOTTOF, and IVsiikAKiT. — the last-named wintered 
on the American continent in 1761, — whose daring in 
navigation was equalled only by their rapacity in trade 
and their cruelty toward the harmless natives. Such were 
the energy and skill of these traders that in 30 years the 
Aleutian archipelago was explored, and the coast lines of 
the fringing isles of the continent traced southward to 
meet the farthest northing of the Spaniard Perez at 
Nootka Sound. 

All this exploration drifted to the south. Toward the 
Arctic Circle the landing of Synd at Cape Prince of Wales, 
in 1767, appears to have been the only addition until the 
coming of Captain James Cook. The voyage, in the Reso- 
lution, of this distinguished navigator called him from the 
enjoyment of honors flowing from his remarkably success- 
ful voyages in the South and Antarctic seas, to attempt a 
passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic, either to the cast 
or to the west. Cook's instructions required him to follow 
the northwest coast to 65 n., without delay, and beyond 
that latitude to carefully examine all bays or inlets that 
appeared to promise passage either to Hudson or to Baffin 
bay. This failing, he was to similarly attempt the North- 
east Passage. 

Passing and naming Mt. St. Elias in May 1778, Cook 
entered Bering Strait in August, Captain Cl ERKE accom- 
panying him in the Discovery. The unparalleled suc- 
cesses of Cook in the Antarctic ice and over the broad 
expanse of the Pacific now failed him in a degree. De- 
spite his most strenuous efforts he was unable to force 



Bering Strait 81 

his way through the ice-pack that crowded the Asiatic 
coast at Cape Szerde Kamen, which had been rounded 
by Deshnef in 1648. On the American side his fortunes 
were better, for he succeeded in reaching, 18th August 

1778, 70 41' n., where a compact wall of ice turned 
him back. He charted Capes Lisburne and Icy, but 
the fog prevented his seeing the (Kotzebue) sound farther 
to the south. His farthest was about five degrees of lati- 
tude to the north of Synd. Returning southward, Norton 
Sound was explored and named, and the mythical island 
of ' Alaschka ' charted by Staehlin, became the main- 
land of America. Cook intended to renew the attempt in 

1779. but his unfortunate death at Hawaii, 14th February 
1779, left Clerke in command, who, death-struck by con- 
sumption, died at Petropaulovsk after failing to reach the 
70th parallel at his farthest (69 30' n.), 2 2d July 1779. 
This ended exploration in this region for half a century. 

In 18 1 6 a Russian, Otto von Kotzebue, in the Rurik, 
very appropriately passed through Bering Strait, and 
made important discoveries. Tracing the American coast 
northward from Cape Prince of Wales, Kotzebue entered, 
4th August, the great sound that now bears his name. De- 
layed here two weeks by his careful survey of the inlet, 
Kotzebue made no higher northing than Cape Krusen- 
stern, 67 n., but his geological discoveries were of 
especial interest and importance. In Escholtz Bay, 66° 
16' N., he found an ice-cliff 80 feet high, covered by 
a thin layer of blue clay and turf-earth. From the ice- 
cliff were obtained bones and tusks of the mammoth, 
under conditions that lead to the belief that the ice-strata 
were formed during the life of the mammoth. 

The co-operating expedition of Beechey (Chapter VII), 
1826, for tracing with Franklin the northern coast of 
America, succeeded in passing somewhat farther to the 
6 



82 Handbook of Arctic Di 'score 

north than Cook, reaching at sea 7i°oS'n., 163 40' \v., 
13th August 1S26. Beechey surveyed Kotzebue Sound, 
while Mate Elson in a barge succeeded* in following 
the coast 126 miles beyond Icy Cape to Point Marrow, 
71 24' N., 156 22' w., — which was long thought to be 
the most northerly point of the continent of America. 
As is now known, this honor lies with the north point 
of Boothia Felix (of Captain John Ross), in ;j 

Beechey seems to have been the first to question the 
influence of Bering Strait as a material feeder or dis- 
charger of the Arctic Ocean, for he notes that no ' great 
body of water flows toward Bering Strait ' from the sea 
of Kamchatka. He adds : ■ It appears that near the 
strait, with southerly and easterly winds, there is a 
current to the northward, and with northerly and north- 
westerly winds there is none to the southward ; conse- 
quently the preponderance is in favor of the former.' 

While the voyage of Lutke, in Le Se marine, 1S2S-29, 
did not result in additional discoveries, yet he charted 
with accuracy a considerable part of the coast of Asia, 
between latitudes 53 and 65 ° n. 

The search expeditions for the missing vessels of Sir 
John Franklin — Herald, Captain Kellett ; ricrer, 
Captain Moore, and afterwards Captain Maguire ; En- 
terprise, Captain Collinson ; and Investigator, Captain 
McClure — made only incidental contributions to a 
knowledge of the Bering Strait region. The voyage of 
Lieutenant John Rodgers, in the Vincennes, 1S55, resulted 
in a series of soundings through the strait, supplemented 
by astronomical, ethnographic, and other observations by 
Lieutenant Brooke at Glassecap, 65 N., 172 35' w., on 
the Asiatic coast. The success of Rodgers in attaining 
the highest latitude made to that time in the Bering 
Strait region, is set forth in Chapter XIII. 



Bering Strait 83 

In 1865-66, expeditions visited Bering Strait in con- 
nection with the project of establishing telegraphic com- 
munication between America and Asia by a cable across 
the strait. A careful hydrographic survey of the strait, 
between 64 and 66° n., showed that it is very shallow, 
with an equable depth of about 20 fathoms. 

While the various expeditions already named contrib- 
uted more or less information bearing on the hydrog- 
raphy of Bering Straits, it remained for William H. Dall 
— the well-known authority on parts of Alaska, without 
the scope of this volume — to make an exhaustive sur- 
vey of the strait, and determine a number of mooted 
questions. During 1871-74, the U. S. Coast Survey work 
by Dall in Bering Sea comprised many thousand temper- 
ature and current observations, and the establishment of 
a series of magnetic stations from Sitka west to the 
Aleutian chain, by which the fact was developed that the 
secular change of the magnetic declination in this region 
had not only reached its eastern elongation, but had 
materially receded from the values determined by Rod- 
gers in 1855. In 1880, in the Yukon, Dall, supplement- 
ing these observations by a series carried northward, by 
stations at suitable points in Bering Sea and Strait and 
northward to Point Belcher, fully confirmed the conclusions 
previously reached. A hydrothermal section of Bering 
Strait was made, with serial temperatures every 5 fathoms 
at intervals of 4 miles, from Cape Prince of Wales to East 
Cape. This work showed the highest temperature to be 
48 near the American coast, gradually cooling to 36 near 
the Asiatic side. The current observations (taken in con- 
nection with those previously made north and south of 
the strait) showed that the principal current in Bering 
Strait is tidal and intermittent ; that the warmth of the 
water is due to the warming up by the sun of the shallow 



84 Hafidbook of Arctic Discoveries 

waters of Norton and Kotzebue sounds, and not to a 
warm ocean current from the southern part of Bering 
Sea; that the water south of St. Lawrence Island in 
Bering Sea is constantly colder than that on the eastern 
side of the strait and in the two sounds j and finally, that 
the chief current of Bering Sea and Strait is a feeble but 
somewhat general movement of cold Arctic water south- 
ward. The hypothetical branch of the Japan current, 
which had long been supposed to enter Bering Sea and 
extend through the strait into the Arctic Ocean, was con- 
clusively shown to have no actual existence, and the fact 
that the current in the strait runs northward with the 
flood, and southeastward with the ebb tide was demon- 
strated by the observations. 

The contributions of the international polar stations 
maintained at Point Barrow, 1881-83, are set f° rtn in 
Chapter XVI. They comprise the discovery of Meade 
River, ethnographic studies, and other scientific investiga- 
tions, and practically close the exploration of this region. 

Rich gold deposits have lately drawn thousands of men 
to the lands east of Bering Strait. Cities and towns there 
exist with all modern improvements ; two railways are in 
operation ; and by cable, wireless telegraphy and tele- 
phony the news of the world now daily reaches the shores 
of Kotzebue Sound. 



Kotzebue: Voyage of Discovery, 1815-18,3 v. (Lon- 
don 1 821) ; Beechey : Voyage to Bering Strait, 2 v. 
(London 1831) ; Seemann : Voyage of the Herald, 2 v. 
(London 1853); Hooper: Tents of the Tuski ( London 
1853); Lauridsen : Life of Vitus Bering (Chicago 
1890); Simpson, Maguire, and Moore : see Arctic Blue 
Books, Chapter XVIII. 



No. VI. 




No. VI. 




ARCTIC COAST AND ISLANDS OF NORTH AMERICA (After ArrowsmithJ 






'"">l 



















J 



CHAPTER VII 

THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE BY SEA 

AS related already, the efforts to find a Northwest 
Passage to Cathay and the Indies practically 
ended with the discoveries of Baffin in 1616. The last 
voyage of Bering and his successors, about the mid- 
dle of the 1 8th century (Chapter VI), demonstrating that 
America and Asia were separated by a strait, excited anew 
the interest of Great Britain in the forgotten passage. 
The great navigator, James Cook, called into service for 
the sole purpose of making this circumnavigation of the 
Americas, attacked the problem from the new quarter, 
via Bering Strait. Cook only succeeded in reaching Icy 
Cape to the east, whence returning for the winter to 
Hawaii, the spear of a savage ended his notable career. 

American and European wars interrupted for 40 years 
all British exploration, when its renewal was due to the 
representations of a Scotch whaler, William Scoresby the 
younger, whose discoveries on the east coast of Greenland 
are mentioned in Chapter XVII. In 181 7, when trans- 
mitting to Sir Joseph Banks, some results of his scientific 
discoveries in the Arctic seas, Scoresby set forth that he 
had found ' about 2,000 square leagues of the Green- 
land (or Spitzbergen) Sea, between 74 , and 8o° north, 
perfectly void of ice . . . whereby (he) was enabled to 
penetrate within sight of the eastern coast of Green- 
land, to a meridian usually considered inaccessible.' 



86 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

He then recommended ' the examination of the coasts 
of Spitzbergen and Greenland, explorations affecting the 
whale-fishery, and researches toward deciding whether 
or not a navigation into the Pacific by a northeast or 
northwest passage existed,' and tendered his services 
for such explorations. Through the exertions of Sir 
Joseph Banks and Sir John Barrow, then Secretary of 
the Admiralty, the British government decided to renew 
polar exploration, and in 1818 sent out two expedi- 
tions, one to the northwest, and the second to reach the 
pole. Attached to these expeditions were six men whose 
names and fame must ever be associated with Arctic dis- 
coveries, — Back, Beechey, Franklin, Parry, John Ross, 
and James C. Ross. 

The Northwest Passage was sought by Captain John 
Ross in the Isabella, seconded by Lieutenant W. E. Parry 
in the Alexander. As the land expeditions of Hearnk 
and Mackenzie had determined that there was no pas- 
sage below the Arctic Circle, Ross was directed to proceed 
up Davis Strait to a high latitude, and, stretching to the 
westward, thus attempt to reach Bering Strait. 

The then accepted geographic knowledge placed an 
imaginary island (James) in the middle of Davis Strait, 
while the northerly extension of water into Baffin Bay was 
not credited. Barrow, in his Arctic Voyages (London 
1818), gives a brief account of Baffin's remarkable voyage 
of 1 616, but does not credit the story, saying, ' It is most 
vague, indefinite, and unsatisfactory, and the account is 
most unlike the writing of William Baffin,' and then 
proceeds to erase Baffin Bay from his chart, as did 
Ecede in his Greenland, 1818. Barrington, the same 
year, in Possibility of Approaching the North Pole As- 
serted, enters the bay with the legend ' According to the 
relation of W. Baffin, 1616, but not now believed.' 



The Northwest Passage by Sea 87 

But while the expert map-makers were terminating the 
west coast of Greenland with the 73d parallel, hardy and 
enterprising whalers, British and American, were yearly 
visiting its dangerous waters, where they had explored the 
coast to near the 76th degree of north latitude, and ven- 
tured their ships into the ice-clad sea, to the neighbor- 
hood of Cape York, within an equal distance of the 
farthest of Baffin. In 181 7 Captain Wm. Brass, whaler 
Thomas, reached 75 ° io' n. ; Captain Muirhead, of the 
Larkin, attained 72 12' in the open sea; and doubtless 
other whalers had gone yet beyond. 

John Ross sailed from Lerwick, 3d May 181S, and 
overtook the ice-bound whaling fleet at Hare Island, 70 
43' n -j 57° w -j where he found no less than 45 sail. 
Following their advice to hug the Greenland shore, Ross 
pushed northward, aided and accompanied by the whalers, 
the Bon Accord leaving him only in 75 ° 32' n., 6o° 22' w., 
within about 75 miles of Cape York. 

Near Cape York both the Isabella and Alexander were 
beset by heavy ice during a gale, whereby they were 
badly injured and barely escaped destruction, their safety 
depending largely on their special strengthening for ice- 
navigation. West of Bushnan Island Ross fell in with 
natives, the Cape York or Etah Eskimo, to whom he 
gave the fanciful name of Arctic Highlanders. They were 
18 in number, provided with dogs, sledges, hunting-gear 
and iron knives. These last were made of meteoric iron, 
of which large masses were said to be situated at Sowal- 
lick, near Bushnan Island. Rounding Cape York, Ross 
discovered the red snow {Protococcus nivalis') of Cape 
Dudley Digges, the glacier of Petowick, and reached his 
farthest point, 76 54' n., to the northwest of Carey 
Islands. Here he saw to the northeast Hakluyt Island of 
Baffin. Falling in with ice, he erroneously concluded from 



88 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

a survey ' that the land is here continuous, and there is no 
opening at the northernmost part of Baffin Bay.' Turning 
southwestward he failed to penetrate Jones Sound, but 
farther to the south reached Lancaster Sound. This 
strait he penetrated some 50 miles, where he made the 
astonishing error of thinking this waterway, 30 miles wide, 
was only a bay surrounded by mountains. Abandoning 
his only chance of making the Northwest Passage, R( ISS 
returned to England, much to the chagrin of Parry. The 
voyage had not been fruitless. Ross had confirmed the 
discoveries of Baffin, determined the non-existence of 
James Island, extended Lancaster Sound, charted the 
west coast of Davis Strait, made a valuable series of 
magnetic, meteorological, and hydrographic observations, 
and added a new folk to the knowledge of the world. 
His failure in explorations, the main work, was so marked, 
however, that a five-years Arctic voyage in later years 
hardly rehabilitated his standing among Arctic men. 

The dissatisfaction with Ross's non-success was so pro- 
nounced in Great Britain that a new expedition was de- 
termined on within a month after his return, and its 
command given to his lieutenant, William Edward 
Parry, who proved to be one of the ablest, as he was 
one of the most successful, of Arctic explorers. In com- 
mand of the Hecla, 375 tons, with his assistant, Lieutenant 
Liddon, in the Griper, 180 tons, Parry left Yarmouth 
1 2th May 1819, with orders to find the Northwest Pas- 
sage. Associated with him for scientific work was Cap- 
tain Sabine, the most persistent and successful magnetic 
observer of his day. Reaching 73 n., on the west coast 
of Greenland, Parry boldly decided to force a passage 
direct to Lancaster Sound through the ice that covers 
Baffin Bay, now known as the Middle Ice. Parry, en- 
tering Lancaster Sound on 1st August, a month earlier 



The Northwest Passage by Sea 89 

than Ross, fortunately found open water. The mirage 
mountains of the previous year had vanished, and as 
Parry crowded sail westward, he opened a series of mag- 
nificent waterways hitherto unknown. The way lay 
through an archipelago (Parry) with North Devon, Corn- 
wallis, Bathurst, and Melville islands to the north, and 
Cockburn, Prince of Wales, and Banks islands to the 
south. Lancaster Sound, broken at its western end by 
Prince Regent Inlet, gave way to Barrow Strait, which 
broadened into Melville Sound, while yet farther to the 
west the encroaching land formed Banks Strait, where- 
through these channels open into the Polar Ocean. 

In his westward voyage Parry's scientific assistant 
was indefatigable in magnetic observations, which assumed 
an importance before unknown. The route nearly followed 
the 74th parallel of latitude, and as they went west the 
declination (variation from pointing due north) of the 
magnetic needle, which was 109 w. at the mouth of 
Lancaster Sound, steadily increased to 129 w., at Corn- 
wallis Island. At Byam Martin Island, 75 ° n., 104 w., 
Sabine's observation showed that the declination was 166 
east, while the freely suspended compass-needle stood 
practically upright, its inclination or dip being within 
i.6° of vertical. The expedition had thus passed north 
of the magnetic pole, from east to west, and at some point 
travelled over, probably Bathurst Island, the compass needle 
must have pointed due south instead of due north. 

On 4th September 18 19, Parry, who later reached 
113 48' w., passed the no meridian west of Greenwich, 
and thus earned the reward of ^5,000, authorized by act 
of Parliament for such success. Stopped by heavy ice, but 
confident of making the passage the next year, Parry made 
his winter quarters on Melville Island, 74 47' n., 114 w. 

A land journey in June enabled Parry to determine the 



go Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

limited extension of Melville Island to the north. In late 
June the harbor ice broke up, and on 8th August the impa- 
tient explorers sailed westward to attain Bering Strait, but 
they only reached 114 w. long. High land (Banks 
Land) existed to the southwest, and the intervening pas- 
sage (Banks Strait) into the Polar Ocean was blocked up 
with ice far exceeding in thickness any they had before 
seen. The bergs, doubtless offshoots from the ice-clad 
regions north of Parry Archipelago, were from 40 to 100 
feet or more thick, and of a hardness commensurate with 
their size. Frequent efforts to penetrate the pack barely 
failing of destroying the Griper, Parrv reluctantly decided, 
his officers all advising, to return to England. The home- 
ward voyage was marked by no matter of interest except 
the discovery of the Eskimo settlement of Possession Bay, 
at the mouth of Lancaster Sound. 

Parry reached England in November 1820, where he 
was received with great enthusiasm, as he well might be 
after a voyage of unprecedented Arctic success since the 
days of Davis and Baffin, unmarked by fatality, — except 
the death of one man from a non-Arctic cause. He had 
carried the English flag more than half way from Green- 
land to Bering Strait, passed to the north of the continent 
of America and of the north magnetic pole, discovered a 
great archipelago, and encouraged the extension to Lan- 
caster Sound of the whaling industry, worth hundreds of 
thousands of pounds sterling yearly to England. 

Uncertain as to the success of his land co-laborer, — 
Franklin, — Parry concluded that the ice conditions be- 
tween Melville Sound and the unknown coast of North 
America must be even more favorable than by the route 
he had so advantageously followed. The Admiralty fitted 
out another expedition at once, and Parry sailed in May 



The Northwest Passage by Sea 91 

1 82 1, in the Fury, with Captain George F. Lyon, in the 
Hecla. The officers, carefully selected, were men of 
marked ability, — such as James Clark Ross, Hoppner, 
Nias, Reid, Bushnan, and Fisher, of previous Arctic service, 
and Crozier, who later perished in the Franklin expedition. 
The Fury and Hecla were twin ships, with interchangeable 
fittings, one of the many ingenious ideas for Arctic success 
that Parry evolved in his five polar voyages. The official 
instructions directed Parry to penetrate to the west- 
ward through Hudson Strait, reach the coast of the 
continent of America, and following it northward seek a 
passage to the westward from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

After leaving Hudson Strait Parry crossed Fox Channel, 
and proceeding to the north of Northumberland Island, 
reached Repulse Bay through Frozen Strait. Since the 
time of Middleton, 1742, it had been asserted and contro- 
verted that the way of the Northwest Passage was through 
this supposed strait. Parry settled this controversy of a 
century's standing by a survey that showed it to be com- 
pletely landlocked. Two weeks were lost in this side 
expedition, for it was not until 23d August that the 
squadron emerged from Frozen Strait and resumed their 
voyage northward through Fox Channel. Six weeks more 
were lost through bad ice and the examination of the coast 
from Repulse Bay to Hoppner and Lyons inlets, the latter 
promising at first a western passage. On 2d September, 
after the Fury had been nearly shipwrecked, lost 
an anchor, and been driven south, Parry says : ' After 
laborious investigations which have occupied one month, 
we have by unavoidable circumstances returned to nearly 
the same spot we had been on August 6.' The rapidly 
lengthening nights, new ice, and increasing cold forced 
Parry to seek, 8th October 1821, winter quarters, at 
Winter Island, Melville Peninsula, in 66° 32' n., 84 w. 



92 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

Of all things that engaged their attention the visits of 
adjacent bands of Eskimo were fullest of resource and 
interest. Visits were interchanged, mutual assistance ren- 
dered, and cordial relations maintained. Seal and walrus 
hunting afforded subsistence, food, and shelter to the 
natives, whose methods of hunting are described by 
Parry. 

Nor was the knowledge of these people confined alone 
to hunting, for under questioning and urging they drew 
maps of the adjacent country that proved surprisingly 
accurate. The undiscovered strait of Fury and Hecla to 
the north, Committee Bay to the west, and Rae Peninsula 
to the south of Melville Peninsula were correctly charted, 
although the proportionate distances were somewhat inac- 
curate. A few sledge journeys, made under difficulties 
enhanced by severe gales, only served to confirm the 
information given by the Eskimo. 

With a grateful sense of relief Parry saw the land ice 
breakup, 12th July 1822, and permit him to sail north- 
ward. His discovery of Hecla and Fury Strait confirmed 
the Eskimo report as to its existence, but an unbroken 
floe in its western portion left to conjecture whether or 
not it led to the western polar sea. Parry entertained no 
doubt that such was the case ; we now know that he was 
mistaken, as it debouches into Committee Bay, whence 
Boothia Felix Peninsula extends far northward. 

A second wintering at Igloolik, 69 22' n., at the east 
entrance of the strait of Hecla and Fury, brought his crew 
out in such enfeebled condition that, when the ice lull 
firm in the strait, he was obliged to forego his intention 
of sending the Hecla back, while he remained for another 
year with a picked crew in the Fury. Reluctantly accept- 
ing the advice of his surgeon, the two ships reached 
Lerwick, 10th October 1823. 



The Northwest Passage by Sea 93 

The failure of Parry's second voyage impaired neither 
the confidence of the great navigator nor that of the 
Admiralty, in the possibility of discovering the long-sought 
passage, and 19th May 1824 was marked by his depart- 
ure in command of a new expedition, the Hecla and Fury. 
Old associates and experienced officers were with Parry, 
— Hoppner, Austin, James Clark Ross, Foster, Hooper, 
Crozier, and Richards. 

The passage was now to be attempted by the southern 
inlet (Prince Regent) which Parry had discovered in 
1819, when its ice-encumbered waters forbade explora- 
tion. He confidently hoped that favorable weather would 
remove this barrier during the navigable season, and rely- 
ing on his judgment the Admiralty authorized the attempt. 
This opinion was justified by Parry's experience in his 
first voyage, when he sailed 120 miles southward in the 
inlet, to 71 53' n., whence, he says, 'I saw no reason 
to doubt the practicability of ships penetrating much 
farther to the south by watching the occasional openings 
in the ice. It is also probable that a channel exists 
between the western land (North Somerset) and the 
northern coast of America.' The ice conditions of Baffin 
Bay proved so unfavorable that, despite desperate at- 
tempts, Parry did not reach Lancaster Sound until 10th 
September. The season had so far advanced that the 
new ice most seriously impaired their progress, although 
the sound was free of old ice. The new ice forced 
Parry into winter quarters in Prince Regent Inlet, at 
Port Bowen 73 12' n., very greatly to his disappoint- 
ment. He had failed to reach by 80 miles his farthest 
southing of 1819, and as to Port Bowen he had said: 
' This spot was the most barren I ever saw.' 

Their winter's experience confirmed this opinion as to 
the desolation and barrenness of the region, and with 



94 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

the greatest delight they quit the harbor on 12 th July 
1825, to pursue their southward voyage along the west 
coast of Prince Regent Inlet. Heavy ice and severe 
gales, however, forced the Fury ashore four times, entail- 
ing such injuries that after 25 days of effort to save the 
ship she was abandoned, her stores being left on the ship 
or beach, where later they proved invaluable to John 
Ross; and her crew returned in the Hccla to England, 
where they arrived 12th October 1S25. 

In this journey Parry formulated the well-known canons 
regarding ice-navigation, which time and experience have 
only tended to confirm. He says : ' The eastern coast 
of any portion of land, or, what is the same thing, the 
western sides of seas or inlets having a tendency at all 
approaching north and south, are, at a given season of 
the year, generally more encumbered with ice than the 
shores with an opposite aspect.' Ships, he adds, should 
be kept disengaged from ice so that they may be ' at lib- 
erty to take advantage of the occasional openings in-shore, 
by which alone the navigation of these seas is to be per- 
formed with any degree of certainty.' 

This voyage ended Parry's efforts to make the North- 
west Passage, but in 1827 he attempted to reach the 
North Pole, with results given elsewhere (Chapter XII). 

In 1824, the British government decided to supplement 
the discoveries of Parry's third expedition, by sending a 
ship to winter at Repulse Bay, whence the following spring 
a sledge party should cross the narrow (Rae) isthmus, 
which the Eskimo said led to a western sea, and follow 
the coast to Point Turnagain of Franklin. The Griper 
was assigned to the duty, under Captain G. F. I <Y< >N, an 
officer who had navigated these waters with Parrv. In- 
stead of following the northern and short route to Repulse 
Bay, by way of Frozen Strait, which Parry had selected 



The Northwest Passage by Sea 95 

in 182 1, Lyon followed the longer southern way through 
Hudson Bay to Rowe's Welcome. The selection proved 
disastrous, for the Welcome was so filled with heavy ice 
that the Griper could not force her way northward. Two 
violent storms were here experienced, from both of which 
the vessel escaped shipwreck almost by miracle. In the 
latter storm, 13th September, all her bowers parted and 
the Griper was thrown over on her broadside, but the 
wind changing she escaped with the loss of all her 
anchors. Under these conditions Lyon returned to Eng- 
land, his farthest being off Wager River, some 80 miles 
south of Repulse Bay. 

The fruitless efforts of these repeated northwest voyages 
so discouraged the Admiralty that no farther efforts were 
made by them until the voyage of Back, in 1836. Pri- 
vate enterprise in this direction was, however, not wanting, 
and in 1829 another expedition sailed in the paddle- 
steamer Victory, fitted out by the liberality of Felix 
Booth, sheriff of London, and commanded by Captain 
John Ross. Since his unfortunate mistake of 18 18, Ross 
had striven in vain to obtain command of another govern- 
ment expedition. An officer of great gallantry and ac- 
knowledged ability, yet Ross's Arctic fitness was questioned, 
and his effort viewed with prejudice, owing largely, it 
would seem, to want of tact, which led to endless contro- 
versies. However, both Hoppner, Parry's lieutenant, 
and Back, sought service in vain with Ross on this voyage, 
wherein he was seconded by his nephew, James Clark 
Ross. The Victory was a small paddle-steamer of 150 
tons, but this first application of steam power to Arctic 
exploration did not result favorably, owing to the crudity 
of the mechanism, and the useless and despised engine 
was eventually thrown away. Sailing from Woolwich, 23d 
May 1829, the Victory crossed Baffin Bay without diffi- 



g6 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

culty, and on ioth August had passed through Lancaster 
Sound to the mouth of Prince Regent Inlet. Following 
its western land, Ross fortunately found it comparatively 
ice-free, and landing at the beach where the Fury had 
been wrecked, found that the vessel had disappeared. 

From the stores which Parry had prudently landed, 
Ross filled the Victory with canned meats, vegetables, 
powder, and all kinds of supplies, which later proved his 
salvation. Passing Cape Garry, the ultimate discovery of 
Parry, Ross traced North Somerset to its southern ex- 
tremity. He was, however, ignorant of this fact, and with 
phenomenal lack of perspicacity, followed the shore of 
Cresvvell Bay, and crossed a (Bellot) strait without recog- 
nizing it as such. Calling the indentation Brentford Bay, 
he passed unconsciously by the northernmost point of the 
continent of America and the strait that was the North- 
west Passage, the object of that and his previous voyage. 
This passage remained unknown a quarter of a century 
longer, until one of Ross's successors, pursuing the work 
of exploration perhaps with a keener instinct and larger 
capacity, and certainly with more efficient means and 
facilities, spied it out. The sharp sailor eye of Kennedy, 
searching for Franklin in the Prince Albert, 1851-52, 
discovering it, he named it for Bellot, the French volun- 
teer who lost his life in 1853 as Inglefield's assistant. 

Ross appropriately gave the new land the name of 
Boothia Felix, after his patron, and tracing southward its 
desolate shores, finally was driven to (Felix) harbor, 1st 
October 1829, in 69 59' n., 92 w. 

The Eskimo in the neighborhood of their winter-quar- 
ters proved friendly and serviceable. Learning from them 
that the western sea was separated from their own water 
only by a narrow isthmus, 40 miles to the southwest, Ross 
sent his nephew, James C. Ross, into the field for land 



The Northwest Passage by Sea 97 

explorations. From a series of journeys it developed that 
Boothia Felix was a part of the mainland of America, 
and was connected with it by an isthmus about 15 miles 
wide. 

Young Ross's explorations were extensive and important. 
Crossing the isthmus he discovered Franklin Passage, 
Victoria Strait, and King William Land. He followed up 
the west shore of Boothia Felix Land, to Cape Nicholas the 
First, about 70 30' n., and to the westward, rounding the 
northern cape of King William Land, traced its western 
coast to Point Franklin, within 222 geographical miles of 
Franklin's Point Turnagain. Failing to note Rae Strait, 
he did not recognize the insularity of this land. The 
most important work done by James Clark Ross, giving 
imperishable renown to his name, was the determination 
of the position of the north magnetic pole, which his 
observations placed at Cape Adelaide, on the west coast 
of Boothia Felix, in latitude 70 05' N., longitude 96 44' w. 
Parry at Port Bowen located it in 70 43' n., 9 8° 54' w. 
Amundsen relocated it near King William Land in 1904. 

Unfavorable ice conditions made it impossible for Ross 
to extricate the Victory, and after three winters, 1829-32, 
failing food made it evident that the lives of the party rested 
on a retreat to Fury Beach, where the stores cached by 
Parry would ensure their safety. Abandoning their ship 
29th May 1832, after a voyage of some 300 miles, which 
bad weather and unfavorable ice -conditions greatly pro- 
longed they reached Fury Beach, 1st July, in dire ex- 
tremities of hunger and fatigue. Recuperating they at- 
tempted to reach Lancaster Sound, hoping to fall in with 
whalers, but the impenetrable ice to the northward drove 
them back to winter quarters at Fury Beach, in a house 
of their construction, called North Somerset. The ice 
conditions of 1833 were more favorable, and in a voyage 
of several weeks they crossed Navy Board Inlet, and 25 th 
7 



98 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

August fell in with the whaler Isabella, the ship in which 
Ross had made his first voyage. 

The experiences, duration, and results of this voyage 
are among the most extraordinary on record. The party 
passed five years in the Arctic regions without fatality, 
save three (two from non-Arctic causes), discovered a new 
land, the northern extremity of the continent of America, 
and made other extensive geographical discoveries. Its 
observations are probably the most valuable single set ever 
made within the Arctic Circle, involving not only the cli- 
matic conditions of Arctic America, a local matter, but 
also the determination of the magnetic elements at their 
very poles, a subject of world-wide importance. 

The unpopularity of Captain John Ross resulted in at- 
tempted detractions from the true merit of his work, which 
was credited in an undue degree to his nephew, Tami.s 
C. Ross. Fame and reputation enough for any two men 
should accrue from such accomplishment as resulted from 
the energy, application, and ability displayed on this mem- 
orable expedition. 

In 1S36, the Royal Geographical Society petitioned 
the British government to send an expedition to survey 
the coast between Regent Inlet and Point Turnagain of 
Franklin, 182 1. The Terror was placed under com- 
mand of Sir George Back, an able officer of great Arctic 
experience, who had orders to proceed to Wager River or 
Repulse Bay, and having crossed Regent Inlet, examine 
the coast-line east to Cape Kater and west to Back River. 

Back sailed, 14th June 1836, and found the ice condi- 
tions of Hudson Bay bad beyond description. The Terror 
was beset the middle of September, near Cape Bylot, and 
thenceforth was subject for ten months to the vicissitudes of 
the moving pack. Again and again they passed through 
most trying ice-experiences, during which instant destine - 



The Northwest Passage by Sea 99 

tion threatened the vessels for hours at a time. With 
reference to one occasion, when the ice, thrown up in all 
directions, overhung the ship, Back says : ' Though I had 
seen vast bodies of ice from Spitzbergen to 150 west 
longitude, all more or less awe-inspiring, I had never 
witnessed, nor even imagined, anything so fearfully mag- 
nificent as the moving towers that frowned on every side.' 

A recital of the horrors experienced from violent dis- 
ruptions and movements of the pack would be tiresome, 
for they were of almost daily recurrence. The Terror 
assumed from these enormous forces such a degree of 
inclination as almost threw her over on her beam ends. 
Finally she was squeezed and lifted entirely above the 
level of the sea, so that she rested on the main floe, 
supported only by the masses of heavy ice that had 
been thrown up around her by the action of the pack. 

Under the influence of wind and currents the pack 
drifted southeastward all winter, toward Hudson Strait, 
the western end of which was reached in May. The 
winter was marked by excessively cold weather, much 
illness, and two deaths. The general conditions are best 
expressed by Back's words, as producing ' the weariness 
of heart, the blank of feeling, which gets the better of 
the whole man. . . . No occupation, no amusement had 
power to please, or even to distract the thoughts.' 

The release came in July. By tremendous efforts of a 
month's duration the surrounding ice was so cut and sawn 
as to secure the safety of the Terror when the main floe 
finally broke. Enormous pieces of the floe yet adhered 
to the bottom of the vessel, and their separation nearly 
capsized the ship. For four months entirely out of water, 
and cradled in an ice-dock, the Terror was so badly dis- 
abled, and now leaked so rapidly that she barely escaped 
foundering on her return voyage to England. 

L OF C. 



IOO Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

The most famous of all Arctic expeditions is undoubt- 
edly that of Sir John FRANKLIN, in the Erebus and Terror. 
The tragic fate that overwhelmed the entire party, the long 
uncertainty attending such fate, the strenuous and una- 
vailing efforts for their relief, and the extended geograph- 
ical discoveries resulting therefrom give this expedition 
an importance that justifies the treatment of its work and 
fortunes in a separate chapter. 

However, years were to elapse before the discovery of 
the final link in the Northwest Passage by Franklin was 
to be known by the world. Meanwhile M'Clure was to 
reach in the Investigator M'Clure Strait, Banks Strait of 
Parry, 1819, and Collinson to trace, in his wonderful voy- 
age in the Enterprise, the winding coast-wise waters of 
the continent of America to the very channel in which the 
Erebus and Terror sank. These voyages were made, 
however, in attempts to relieve the missing squadron, and 
are therefore treated in connection with the Franklin 
Search by Sea (Chapter X). 



Ross, J: Voyages for a North-West Passage (1st, 
1818; 2d, 1S29-33, London 1816, 1835); Parry: Voy- 
ages for a North-West Passage (1st, 1819-20; 2d, 
1821-23; 3d, 1824-25, London 1821, 1824, 1826); 
Back : Voyage of the Terror (London 183 8) ; Armstrong : 
Narrative of North- West Passage (London 1S57) ; 
Osborn : M' CYure's Discovery of the North- II 'est Passage, 
1850-54 (London 1857); McClintock : Voyage of the 
Fox, 1857-59 (5 ed. London 188 1). Also see p. n. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE BY LAND 

THE discovery of a passage across the continent of 
America by land, like similar ventures by sea, is 
inseparably associated with commercial undertakings. 
Land operations demanded permanent base, and this was 
insured by the expedition under the auspices of Prince 
Rupert, which, wintering 1668-69 m Rupert River, Hud- 
son Bay, built Fort Charles. Convinced that trade with 
the natives of this region would be both safe and profitable, 
the prince obtained from Charles the Second a charter, 
dated 2d May 1670, granting exclusive commercial privi- 
leges. This was the beginning of the Hudson Bay 
Company, which enjoyed these and added grants of 
power for two centuries. While the original charter pro- 
vided primarily ' for the Discovery of a new Passage 
into the South Sea,' the company devoted its energies 
exclusively to building up a profitable trade with Indians. 
Allured by Eskimo reports of rich mines of native 
copper, James Knight, governor of Nelson River, in vain 
urged an exploring expedition by the company until he 
threatened a parliamentary investigation of the charter. 
In 1 7 19 they reluctantly sent out Knight with two ships. 
The expedition never returned, and it was not until 1759 
that the discovery of wreckage and ruins on Marble Island 
disclosed the fate of the crew, which was confirmed from 
Eskimo sources. Meanwhile Middleton in the California, 



102 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

and Moore in the Furnace discovered, in 1741, Wager 
Inlet, Repulse Bay, and Frozen Strait, which was followed 
in 1746 by a fruitless voyage inspired by the reward of 
10,000 pounds offered by Parliament for the discovery 
of the Northwest Passage. These disastrous sea-voyages 
ended for a while further explorations, but in 1769, in- 
cited by repeated reports of a great river with adjacent 
mines of pure copper, — which seemed plausible from the 
pieces of metal brought in by the Indians, — the Hudson 
Bay Company decided to search for the source of this 
metallic wealth and strive for the reward for a passage. 

It selected for this enterprise Samuel Hearne, one of 
its factors at Fort Prince of Wales. His orders were to 
go ' far to the north of Churchill, to promote an extension 
of trade, as well as for the discovery of a northwest passage, 
copper mines, &c.' His first attempt, in November 1 769, 
proved unsuccessful through the lukewarmness of his sub- 
ordinates, the number of camp-followers, and the fact that 
the journey was initiated at the commencement of a sub- 
arctic winter, — when hunting on the 'barren lands' 
afforded precarious subsistence. 

Undiscouraged by his failure, Hearne started again 23d 
February 1770, from Fort Prince of Wales, with five 
Indians. It soon developed that it was too early for a 
party provided only with arms and ammunition to travel 
through the barren lands, where game, their only means 
of subsistence, was poor and scarce. 

1 [earne therefore camped on Seal River, 59 46' n., till 
27th April, when he started westward ; but, obliged to travel 
with roving bands of Indians, — by whom he was plun- 
dered, — and having broken his astronomical instruments, 
he returned to Churchill 25th November. Starting twelve 
days later, 7th December, with Mattonabbee, a limn- 
chief, Hearne wintered in the woods, and in the middle 



The Northwest Passage by Land 1 03 

of April 1 771, was on a small lake, 6i° 30' n., 112 w. 
Accumulating a stock of dried fish and meat, he turned to 
the north and reached Clowey Lake, 3d May. Here large 
numbers of Indians were assembled, and pushing on with 
recruits 20th June brought them to Rum Lake, — his 
companions venturing that far to attack the Eskimo. 

Crossing the Stony Mountain they came to a (Copper- 
mine) river, on the lower reach of which, near a cascade, 
they found an Eskimo encampment. Stripping to breech- 
clothes and moccasins, the Indians put on their war paint, 
and waiting till midnight fell on the sleeping Eskimo, 
whom, despite Hearne's protestation, they butchered, — 
men, women, and children. Mutilating the bodies and 
destroying all property they could not carry, the Indians 
accompanied Hearne to the mouth of the Coppermine, 
which was reached 17th July 1 771 . The water was fresh, 
but seals, ice, and other signs convinced him that from 
the islet-strewn delta he overlooked the northern ocean. 

Hearne's claim to have reached the polar sea was very 
seriously questioned, for he made no astronomical observa- 
tion, but located it by dead reckoning. Franklin's journey 
of 182 1 confirmed Hearne's claims, through his accurate 
description of the cascade, where unburied skulls yet 
marked the massacre. Hearne very greatly over-estimated 
distances, and placed the mouth of the Coppermine 4 
of latitude too far north and 5° of longitude to the west, 
the true position being about 67 48' n., 115 47' w. 

A spirit of adventure and exploration instigated the next 
journey across the barren lands, through warring tribes 
and down torrential rivers to the Arctic coast of north- 
west America. 

One of the Northwest Fur Company, stationed at Fort 
Chipewyan, and impressed by Indian accounts, believed 
that the northern sea could be reached by a large river 



104 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

issuing from Great Slave Lake. This man was ALEXANDER 
Mackenzie, — afterward Sir Alexander, — made famous 
by this and a later journey across Uritish America, — the 
first transcontinental passage made north of Mexico. 

With a number of canoes Mackenzie left Fort Chipew- 
yan, 3d June 1789, and reached Slave Lake via Peace 
River, — a well known route. Delayed by ice and making 
trading arrangements with the Indians, it was 25th June 
when, with a new guide, he started in search of the outlet 
of the (Mackenzie) river, which was found on the 29th. 
Undeterred by Indian tales of rapids, monsters, and Es- 
kimo, he boldly intrusted himself to this unknown stream, 
obtaining guides by persuasion, pay, and force as occasion 
required. Adversities and dangers were encountered, but 
it is of interest to note that the hardship of which 
Mackenzie complains most in his journal was attacks of 
clouds of mosquitoes. On 12th July 1798, he arrived at 
Whale Island, in the river delta, 69 14' N. by observa- 
tion, 1 35 w. by dead reckoning. Sea-fowl, whales, and a 
dangerous swell indicated that he was on the shores of 
the polar sea, which was not salt, for in that almost tide- 
less region, the great volume of the Mackenzie keeps the 
water always fresh many miles seaward. 

The successor of Mackenzie was the best-known man 
connected with the Northwest Passage, whether by land 
or by sea, — Sir John Franklin. A midshipman in the 
leading ship in the battle of Copenhagen, distinguished for 
intrepidity at Trafalgar, one of the few English officers 
who gained laurels at New Orleans, wrecked on an Aus- 
tralian coral reef, and serving successfully seven years as 
Governor of Tasmania, yet his fame and fate were linked 
rather with Arctic exploration than with naval service or 
civil duties. Associated as commander of the Trenfmth 
Buchan in 181S (Chapter XII), he sought Arctic service 



The Northwest Passage by Land 105 

at the first opportunity, which came the next year. The 
Admiralty Board, in renewing Arctic exploration in 1819, 
decided to make attempts by land and by sea. It sent 
Parry by sea, while it fell to Franklin's lot to outline 
the north coast of America, where Hearne and Mackenzie 
had located two isolated points, the mouths of the Copper- 
mine and the Mackenzie. 

Franklin's work was to be done by sledge and canoe, 
through the Hudson Bay territory, with D r John Richard- 
son, midshipmen Robert Hood and George Back, and 
a seaman, John Hepburn. A dangerous voyage in one of 
the company's ships brought them to York Factory 30th 
August 1819. An ordinary man would have tarried there 
for the winter, but Franklin with his usual energy pushed 
on and completed by 2 2d October an autumnal journey 
of 700 miles, involving marches, portages, and rapids, that 
brought them to Cumberland House. 

Franklin's ambitious spirit was not satisfied with this 
measure of success, but on 18th January 1820, in the 
middle of an Arctic winter of intense cold and prolonged 
darkness, with Back and Hepburn he started northward 
for Fort Chipewyan, Lake Athabasca. The two months' 
journey of 800 miles involved terrible hardships. The 
supplies were hauled on dog-sledges, while the men trav- 
elled over the snow-covered land on snow-shoes, which, 
as they were mangeurs de lard, or novices, caused almost 
intolerable pain in their swollen feet as they strove to keep 
pace with the dogs. The temperature fell as low as 70 
below the freezing-point, and occasional blizzards barely 
failed of destroying the whole party. 

Franklin, unable to obtain sufficient supplies at Chipew- 
yan, pushed on to Fort Providence, Great Slave Lake, 
where on leaving he had only ten days' provisions for 
his party. The entire force now consisted of 26 men, 



106 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

three Indian women and children, with whom Franklin 
hoped to reach that autumn the lower Coppermine, his pro- 
posed winter-quarters. The journey lay up the Yellow 
Knife. The stock of food soon failed, fish and game were 
scarce, portages frequent, long, and difficult, signs of com- 
ing winter appeared, and much against his will Franklin 
was constrained, after a journey of 553 miles, to build on 
Winter Lake, Fort Enterprise, 64 28' N., 113 w. This 
display of energy by Franklin was counteracted largely 
by the neglect and misconduct of the officers of the 
Hudson Bay and Northwest companies, who refused to 
forward the promised supplies, and were believed to have 
bred among the Indians distrust of Franklin's intentions. 

Back volunteered to return to Providence and Chipewyan 
for supplies absolutely necessary for the success of the 
expedition, — ammunition in particular, which was almost 
exhausted. Meanwhile about 180 deer were killed and 
over 1,200 fish caught, but the Indians crowded to the fort 
in such numbers as threatened to exhaust the food during 
the winter, when game was absent, so Franklin was obliged 
to dismiss some of them. The winter proved to be in- 
tensely cold, and Franklin says, ' The trees froze to their 
very centres and became as hard as stones, and more 
difficult. Some of the axes were broken daily.' More 
than once the temperature of the bedroom before fire was 
made was as low as 70 below freezing. 

Back returned with ammunition and other supplies the 
17th of March, having travelled over 1,100 miles on 
snow-shoes, with no covering at night beyond a blanket 
and deerskin, sometimes from two to three days without 
food, and in temperatures often 70 and once 90 below 
freezing. The conditions of this mid-winter journey may 
be surmised by Belanger's appearance on arrival at Enter- 
prise : I His locks were matted with snow, and he was 



The Northwest Passage by Land 107 

encrusted with ice from head to foot, so that we scarcely 
recognized him as he burst in on us.' 

It was 1 st July 182 1 before Franklin was able to 
accumulate men and supplies on the banks of the Copper- 
mine, but on the 18th, after numberless hazards, the 
ocean was reached at the mouth of the Coppermine, — 
67 48' n., 107 w., — 350 miles from Fort Enterprise. 
Franklin says : l The position differs widely from that 
assigned by M r Hearne ; but the accuracy of his descrip- 
tion, conjoined with Indian information, assures us that 
we were at the very part he visited.' Provisions for 15 
days only remained, and the immediate country was abso- 
lutely barren ; nevertheless Franklin decided to explore 
the sea-coast to the eastward. Bands of Eskimo met near 
the sea proved friendly, and Franklin counted on aid from 
other bands that frequent the coast to the eastward. 

His voyageurs, at home in rapids or in forest, where 
they faced unhesitatingly the dangers of the march or 
chase, now viewed with terror a boat voyage through an 
icy sea. The length of the journey, the roughness of the 
waves, the uncertainty of provisions, the absence of fuel 
created such apprehensions that they sought their dis- 
charge, and were with difficulty shamed into proceeding. 

A new country lay before Franklin, who, starting on 
21st July, by indefatigable exertions succeeded in tracing 
the south shore of an extensive sound (Coronation Gulf), 
the entire coast of an inlet (Bathurst), and finally attained 
Point Turnagain, near a (Dease) strait, 68° 18' N., 109 
25' w., on 1 6th August 1821. 

The journey through an ice-encumbered sea, along a 
coast mostly rocky and high, had by this time so injured 
his two canoes that they were daily in danger of falling 
to pieces. But three days' pemmican remained ; his men 
were most apprehensive of their safety ; the Eskimo as- 



io8 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

sistance expected failed, although frequent traces were 
found along the whole coast ; indeed progress to this 
extent had only been possible by the occasional deer, 
bear, and other game that was secured in intervals of 
travel. Most reluctantly Franklin turned back on 2 2d 
August, the same day that Parry (Chapter VII) sailed out 
of Repulse Bay, 539 miles distant. 

The freezing weather had already set in, with snow, 
which, with the insufficiency of food and the scarcity of 
game, made it impossible to return over his outward 
route. Franklin consequently determined to enter Hood 
River, one of his outward discoveries, and from the head 
of canoe navigation cross overland to the Coppermine 
and Fort Enterprise. The hope of successful navigation in 
Hood River was destroyed by reaching impassable rapids. 
The river fell 250 feet in a mile, interrupted by two falls 
60 and 100 feet high respectively, in its passage through 
a long canyon with vertical walls of 200 feet. They were 
now 150 miles distant from Point Lake, for which they 
started on foot, the voyageurs carrying two small canoes, 
made out of the remains of their boats. Starting on 
31st August they ate that day their last food, except 
a little portable soup and arrow-root. On 4th September 
they were delayed three days by an extremely violent 
storm, which kept them in camp without food or fuel, in a 
temperature far below freezing. On the 7th Franki in 
fainted at starting, and the last of their portable soup and 
arrow-root, eaten after a three days' fast, was cooked from 
a fire made from one of their canoes, which was broken, — 
possibly by an improvident voyageur to avoid carrying it. 
The snow a foot deep, the country marshy, and the new 
ice breaking and plunging them into icy water, made their 
journey one of indescribable difficulty and discomfort. 
The main party travelled in single file, the officers 



The Northwest Passage by Land 109 

breaking the way through the deep snow, while the 
hunters, keeping well on the flanks, scoured the desolate 
country for needed game. Little was found, and for 
days at a time they lived on tripe de roche (lichens), deer- 
bones left by wolves, etc., — occasionally having part of a 
partridge or a few berries. One day word came to 
Franklin that the remaining canoe was so broken as to 
be useless and had been abandoned. With anguish he 
realized that it was practically their death-warrant, and 
besought the two voyageurs to return and bring it up 
as it was. The ignorant obstinacy of the men caused 
them to refuse, and as no officer could carry the canoe 
they went on without. One hunter straying perished ; 
otherwise the party reached the Coppermine, — which 
all knew to be a rapid, unfordable stream. 

They were now within 40 miles of Fort Enterprise, 
which could easily have been reached by all in the 
eight days taken to cross the Coppermine. Franklin's 
advice was ignored and the obstinate voyageurs fruit- 
lessly wasted their time in seeking fords, searching for 
timber, and in the construction of willow rafts. These last 
nearly caused the death of Richardson, who attempted 
unavailingly, under heroic and desperate conditions, to 
swim the river to get over a line by which the raft could 
cross. Eventually they came to Franklin's idea, a willow- 
framed boat covered with the canvas bedding ; which 
proved practicable, — the party crossing on 4th October. 

Back and two men were sent ahead to Fort Enter- 
prise, to secure aid for the party, for it was evident to 
Franklin that some were near the end of their strength. 

Tripe de roche (lichens) and scraps of roasted leather 
now formed their only diet, which disagreeing with two 
men they fell down with exhaustion on the second march, 
£th October, in the midst of a strong gale and drifting 



no Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

snow that drained their remaining vitality. Despite the 
generous and heroic efforts of Richardson and Hood 
they perished where they fell. These two officers, with 
Hepburn, who volunteered, established a relief camp at 
the first place where enough tripe de roche and wood 
for ten days could be found. Franklin reluctantly con- 
senting to this arrangement, pushed on with the eight 
remaining men. Four of them, however, eventually ex- 
hausted, returned to join Richardson, — Michel, a 
hunter, being of the number. Two of the voyageurs had 
been detected in stealing food since leaving Hood 
River, and the hunters had systematically appropriated 
to their own use small game shot away from the main 
party. This system of misappropriation, fatal to any party 
if not sternly dealt with, proved destructive to this expedi- 
tion. Michel, actuated solely by the desire to save his 
own life at the expense of all others, killed three voy- 
ageurs and Lieutenant Hood. Richardson, as a matter of 
preservation of Hepburn and himself, shot Michel. 

In the meantime Franklin with four men reached Fort 
Enterprise and found it entirely abandoned. A note from 
Back two days old, told him he was pushing on for assist- 
ance to Fort Providence, about two weeks further. Joined 
later by Richardson and Hepburn, Franklin's small party 
subsisted on the bones and skins of deer, remaining 
from the previous year, tripe de roche, moss, etc. Two 
men eventually died, and the whole party would have 
perished had it not been for the successful efforts of 
Back, who, falling in with Indians a few days' march from 
Fort Enterprise, obtained such assistance from their chief, 
Akiatcho, as assured safety for the remainder of the party. 
Back in his trip lost one man from cold and starvation. 

On Franklin's return to England, the British govern- 
ment, having determined to again send Parry to effect the 



The Northwest Passage by Land 1 1 1 

Northwest Passage by sea, approved of a plan for an ex- 
pedition overland to the mouth of the Mackenzie, and 
thence by sea to the northwest extremity of America in 
order to survey the unknown coast. The plan was 
Franklin's, and to him was intrusted its execution. He 
left Great Britain in 1825, at a time when his wife was 
upon her death-bed, she, however, insisting that her 
husband should proceed upon this journey despite her 
condition. D r Richardson and Lieutenants Back and 
Hepburn accompanied him. Their winter quarters were 
fixed on Great Bear Lake, not only on account of its 
proximity to the mouth of the Mackenzie, but from its 
abundant store of fish. Here, in latitude 65 ° 12' n., 
longitude 123 13' w., Fort Franklin was erected. 

The plan contemplated Richardson, with a boat party, 
examining the coast between the Mackenzie and the 
Coppermine rivers, while Franklin was to proceed west- 
ward from the mouth of the Mackenzie, skirt the North 
American shore to Icy Cape, — the farthest of Cook in 
1777, — and reach, if possible, Kotzebue Inlet, where 
Beechey, in the Blossom, was to meet him. 

Before establishing his post on Bear Lake, Franklin 
made a visit to the mouth of the Mackenzie from Fort 
Norman (64 40' n., 124 53' w.), situated at the con- 
fluence of that stream with the River of the Mountains. 
Leaving Fort Norman on 8th August 1825, he reached 
the mouth of the Mackenzie without serious difficulty 
on the 18th, encamping in 69 29' n., 165 41' w. The 
returning party reached Fort Franklin on Great Bear 
Lake 5 th September, which had been built for them. 

The winter of 1825-26 was spent in hunting, fishing, 
and in making a series of meteorological, magnetic, and 
other physical observations. Game was fairly abundant, 
despite which the Indians in mid-winter frequented the 



112 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

fort in a state of semi-starvation due to their indolence. 
During April Richardson completed the survey of ('.real 
Bear Lake ; preparations for the main work of explora- 
tion began in June. 

Franklin left his winter quarters 2 2d June 1826, and 
reached the delta of the Mackenzie 3d July, where he and 
Richardson were to part, each with two boats and pro- 
visions for eighty days. Frank:. i\'s party consisted of 
16 men all told; Back commanded the second boat, 
with an equal number of men. 

At the mouth of the Mackenzie Franklin approached 
an Eskimo camp to open friendly relations with it, but 
the water was so shallow that the boats grounded far from 
shore. The natives came out in kayaks, peaceful ad- 
vances were made through the interpreter, and trade 
commenced. With the ebbing tide the natives sur- 
rounded the stranded boats and despite the remonstrances 
of their own chiefs endeavored to plunder them. Em- 
boldened by Franklin's mildness they even attempted 
to disarm him and his men, and nearly overpowered his 
crew. Fortunately Back's boat got afloat and that officer 
judiciously ordered his men to level their muskets, which 
fortunately scared off the Eskimo and ended the affair. 

Herschel Island, 69 34' n., 140 51'w., reached the 
17th July, proved to be inhabited by Eskimo. Ice and 
fog made farther progress slow, and 5 th August found them 
at Flaxman Island, 70 n' n., 145 50' w. Detained 
nearly a week by fog at a small island, Franklin suc- 
ceeded in reaching, 16th August 1S26, a small (Return) 
reef, which was in 70 26' n., 14S 52' w. Here a 
gale sprang up, and the prospect of reaching Point Barrow, 
before discouraging, was now hopeless. 

The situation was complicated by the fact that Captain 
F. W. BEECHEY, in the Blossom, was ordered to meet 



The Northwest Passage by Land 113 

Franklin in Bering Strait, and bring his party back to 
England. As Icy Cape had never been doubled, Franklin 
was justified in his opinion that Beechey would not pass 
Kotzebue Sound, — which was true as far as anchorage 
of the Blossom was concerned. Beechey, however, was 
impressed with the importance of pushing along the coast 
as far as possible to the eastward, for he well knew 
Franklin's determined spirit. With this view Beechey, 
unable to reach land north of Cape Lisburne, started 
northward M r Elson, with a barge, 1 7th August, — while 
Franklin was encamped at his farthest, Return Reef. 
This energetic officer succeeded, despite unfavorable ice- 
conditions, in rounding Icy Cape, and traced a new and 
unknown coast to the most northerly mainland in the 
Bering Strait region, — Point Barrow, 71 24/ n. Elson 
reached this point, which is within 160 miles of Return 
Reef, 2 2d August, and, ascertaining from the natives that 
no white men had visited them, started back to the 
Blossom, in Kotzebue Sound, three days later. 

Meanwhile Franklin very wisely decided to turn back 
to Mackenzie River, 374 miles distant, which was reached 
29th August 1826. If Franklin had pressed on to the 
west it is evident that he could not have caught Elson, 
and the future of his party would have been most prob- 
lematical, for the following year, 1827, the Blossom was 
unable to get within 100 miles of Icy Cape. 

Franklin found D r Richardson safely returned to Fort 
Franklin from a most successful voyage. Richardson left 
the Mackenzie by the most easterly of its navigable 
mouths, and there fell in with a band of Eskimo that 
were friendly until his boats grounded, when they at- 
tempted to capture them, and desisted only on arms 
being levelled. Proceeding northeast along the coast, 
Richardson landed, 13th July, at Atkinson Island, where 



114 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

he found 1 7 winter-houses and a large public building, 
the latter 27 feet square with log roof. 

Ice, fog, and storms delayed them ; on such occasions 
hunting, fishing, and collecting plants, etc., utilized their 
time. It was not until iSth July that they rounded a 
cape (Bathurst), 70 36' N., 127 35' w., the most 
northerly point of their voyage, and, with the exception of 
Barrow and Boothia, of the American continent. Their 
course now lay to the southeast across Franklin Bay and 
round Cape Parry, a rocky promontory 700 feet high, 
from which, 23d July, they saw land to the south-south- 
east, 40 miles distant. Clerk Island was passed 1st August 
and they were now entering a (Dolphin and Union) strait, 
— named for their boats. The prevalent fog prevented 
their ascertaining this fact until they reached Cape Hope, 
68° 58' N., whence they saw land to the north, distant 
some twelve miles, with an intervening strait densely 
packed with ice. The land, named Wollaston, was moder- 
ately high, separated from the American continent by a 
(Dolphin) strait from twelve to 15 miles wide. As they 
rounded Cape Krusenstern and entered Coronation Culf, 
Wollaston Land extended continuously to the east. 

Richardson was safe at the mouth of the Coppermine 
8th August, having traced the continental coast-line through 
20 degrees of longitude and two of latitude, discovered a 
new land and strait, determined the tidal conditions of 
the polar sea, and thoroughly examined the geological 
formations of the Arctic coast and made collections of 
its flora, — of which he obtained 1 70 flowering species. 
Fort Franklin was reached 1st September 1826, after a 
journey, by land and sea, of 1,709 geographical miles. 

In 1832 the protracted absence of Captain John Ross, 
since 1829, properly excited grave apprehensions for the 
safety of his party. The government contributed Si 0,000 



The Northwest Passage by Land 1 1 5 

for an expedition under Back, via Great Fish or Back 
River, while friends of Ross contributed $15,000; the 
Hudson Bay Company provided canoes and supplies. 

Accompanied by D r Richard King and three men, 
Back reached Fort Resolution, 8th August 1833, — a post 
of the Hudson Bay Company that was to be his main base 
of operations. Appreciating the importance of a prelimi- 
nary examination of his route for the coming spring, — 
especially as it had never been travelled over, — Back 
commenced operations at once. With very great difficulty 
the journey to the Great Fish (Back) River was made 
over a series of small lakes and rivers, — interrupted by 
many portages — from the east end of Great Slave Lake. 
The illness of his interpreter, the desertion of two Indians 
and the attempt of another to abandon him, did not 
deter Back from continuing his advance. The search 
over a rugged, unknown country for a river indefinitely 
located by Indian reports, presented peculiar difficulties, 
but Back, on 31st August 1833, had the satisfaction of 
reaching the Great Fish River, in 64 41' n., 108 w. 
The lateness of the season forbade extensive exploration 
of the new-found river, — the Great Fish, or better, Back 
River, — and they returned to Great Slave Lake, after 
proceeding as far as the first rapids. 

During his absence progress was made in the construction 
of winter-quarters, which were built at the eastern extremity 
of Great Slave Lake, and named Fort Reliance, about 63 
n., 109 w. The winter was unusually cold, following a 
warm autumn, and deer were very scarce. In consequence 
Back had to see the Indians who congregated around 
Fort Reliance suffer indescribably from hunger and ex- 
posure, that killed many. 

The spring of 1834 brought news of the safe return of 
Ross and his party. The particulars confirmed, as Back 



u6 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

says, ' the wisdom as well as the humanity of the course 
assumed by the promoters of our expedition.' 

While the principal object of his journey had been un- 
expectedly attained, yet Back felt that he must carry out 
the geographical and scientific work in view. The spring 
explorations were attempted with ten men, and their single 
boat was launched in Back River, 27th June 1S34. Dan- 
gerous, rocky rapids, ice-covered lakes, — enlargements 
of the main stream, — and impassable cascades and falls, 
entailing laborious portages, were the various phases of 
this dangerous journey. 

One experience in an exceedingly dangerous piece of 
rocky rapids is the origin of a well-known but unplaced 
story. When a snapping oar left it for a moment uncertain 
whether their boat would not be dashed stern foremost on 
the sunken rocks, in the instant of suspense ' one of the 
crew, with less nerve than his companions, began to cry 
aloud for aid. M'Kay, in a still louder voice, exclaimed, 
"Is this a time for praying? Pull your starboard oar." ' 

They fell in with Eskimo 28th July 1834, and two days 
later were at the mouth of the Great Fish River (Back), 
67 11' n., 94 30' w. They had run 530 geographical 
miles down a rock-bound river, experiencing the dangers 
of no less than 83 cascades, falls, and rapids. 

The new discoveries of Back were destined to be con- 
fined to this dangerous river and the barren lands adjacent 
to its mouth. The sea-ice was packed heavily in the 
mouth of Back River, and with great difficulty Back, passed 
an island (Montreal) and reached a point (Ogle), where 
he made his farthest camp 15th August, in 68° 14' n., 94 
58' w. This was at the eastern entrance of a strait 
(Simpson), — afterward passed by Dease and SlMPSON, 
1839, — the greater part of which was seen by a party of 
Back's that walked some 15 miles to the west of Point 



The Northwest Passage by Land 117 

Ogle. This western passage and the finding of a large log 
caused Back to believe, rightly, that there was free water 
communication to the westward rivers. To the northward 
was a new land, and another point had been established 
on the unknown coast of the continent of America. 

A project of sending a party to the west toward Point 
Turnagain of Franklin, proved impracticable, for the 
country was so boggy that a loaded man sank to his knees 
at every step. Naming after King William the new land 
— destined to be forever associated with the fate of 
Franklin — Back turned southward, repassed the rapids, 
wintered at Reliance, and returned to England. 

In 1836 the Hudson Bay Company decided to send out 
an expedition ' to endeavor to complete the discovery and 
survey of the northern shores of the American continent.' 
At this time to the westward, there was an unknown shore 
of 150 miles or more between Return Reef of Franklin 
and Point Barrow of Elson; to the eastward between 
Point Turnagain of Franklin and the Melville Peninsula of 
Parry, the only known portions were the discoveries of 
Sir John Ross in Boothia Land and those of Sir George 
Back at the mouth of Back, or Great Fish River. 

The undertaking was viewed by many as impracticable ; 
but among the many energetic and capable employees of 
the Hudson Bay Company were found two men, whose 
capacities and judgment were deemed equal to the under- 
taking. These men were P. W. Dease and Thomas Simp- 
son, — Dease the older, the more experienced, but the 
latter a man of great ambition and singular resolution, to 
whose personal exertions may be attributed the wonderful 
results that flowed from this expedition. They may be 
well called wonderful, for Simpson succeeded in reach- 
ing Point Barrow to the west, and the westerly shore of 
King William Land to the east. Thus by overlapping 



1 1 8 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

the discoveries of Beechey in one direction and the later 
route of Sir John Franklin in the other, Simpson directly 
established in conjunction with these two the existence of 
a northwest passage by water. Simpson, having visited 
Fort Garry to refresh his astronomical studies, was obliged 
to make a midwinter journey to rejoin Dease, who wintered 
at Fort Chipewyan. Starting ist December, Simpson fixed 
on i st February as the date for reaching Chipewyan, 1,277 
miles distant, and arrived on the very day. He was accom- 
panied from post to post of the Hudson Bay Company by 
fresh men and dogs, but he says ' I had myself raised — 
(that is, broke the path through the snow) — the road 
through the whole journey, my companions being suffi- 
ciently occupied, each with the care of his sledge.' This 
journey of Simpson, and those of Franklin and Back in 
the same inhospitable region, are remarkable exploits, on 
account of their accompaniments of blizzards, cold, etc. 

Dease and Simpson left Chipewyan ist June 1837, and 
delayed by ice ten days at Fort Resolution reached the 
mouth of the Mackenzie and entered the polar sea 9th 
July. Every day or two they met parties of Eskimo, 
who proved always friendly. Fog, storm, and ice were 
experienced ; nevertheless they reached Return Reef, of 
Franklin, 23d July. Simpson says, ' Our early arrival at 
the point where our discoveries were to commence is, 
under Providence, mainly attributable to our inflexible 
perseverance in doubling these great ice-packs, any one 
of which might have confined us a fortnight to the beach.' 

The same line of action was pursued in the westward 
voyage, during which the party once ventured some 1 7 
miles from land and were nearly caught in the great pack. 
At Cape Simpson the ice was so thick that four days were 
spent in making as many miles. Finding it impracticable 
to reach Point Barrow by boat, Simpson determined to 



The Northwest Passage by Land 119 

proceed there overland from this point, 71 03' n., 154 
26' w., it being only two degrees to the westward. Dease 
consenting to care for the boats, Simpson and five men 
started 1st August on foot, carrying on their backs a 
canvas canoe, arms, food, etc., — about 45 pounds to a 
man. Two marches brought them to an Eskimo camp, 
where they most fortunately obtained three large skin- 
boats and rowers for the remainder of the journey to 
Point Barrow, which was reached 4th August. Simpson 
could well say, ' Landing I saw with i7ides crib able emotions 
Point Barrow, stretching out to the northward,' for he had 
completed the northwestern coast-lines of the continent 
of America. Determining the position of the point, 71 
24' n., 15 6° 20' w., Simpson left the next day, and made 
a rapid and successful journey homeward. 

Wintering at Fort Confidence, 66° 54' n., ii8° 49' w., 
which was built for their winter quarters near the mouth 
of Dease River, the party subsisted almost entirely by 
hunting and fishing. The Dease River region was explored 
so that suitable portages for crossing to the Coppermine 
could be laid out. On 6th June 1839, tne start was made, 
and partly by water and partly on sledges the boats were 
transported via Kendall River to the" Coppermine. 

On their arrival, 25 th June, the Coppermine had not 
yet broken up, and with delays from ice and high water 
they did not reach the sea until 1st July. The time 
however, was well-occupied in hunting, which materially 
increased their stock of provisions. Sixteen days elapsed 
before the sea ice permitted their departure, and then the 
ice conditions in the bay — into which the Coppermine 
empties — were so bad that they did not reach Cape 
Flinders, 68° 16' n., 109 21' w., until 9th August. Here 
several gales detained them ten days, with no water in 
sight. In this contingency Simpson resorted to his old 



120 Hcifidbook of Arctic Discoveries 

tactics, and 20th August started eastward on foot, with 
seven men, carrying tent, canvas canoe, arms, and provi- 
sions for ten days. Dease was to follow with boat when 
practicable. Point Turnagain, of FRANKLIN, 182 1, was 
passed the first day and Simpson's discoveries began. He 
covered 100 miles of new coast, reaching, 24th August, 
68° 44' n., 106 03' w. From a bold headland, Cape 
Alexander, 68° 52' n., — his most northerly point, — 
Simpson saw that he was at the eastern entrance of an 
ice-obstructed (Dease) strait. To the north rose an ex- 
tensive unknown coast, the easterly extension of Wollaston 
Land, of Richardson, 1826, to which Simpson gave the 
name of Victoria. Exhausted but exultant, the party re- 
joined Dease 29th August 1838, and returning again 
wintered at Fort Confidence. 

The 2 2d of June 1839 found Simpson and Dease at the 
mouth of the Coppermine, where the sea was yet solid. 
Exploring Richardson River during this delay, they put to 
sea at the earliest opening, and favored by ice conditions 
reached by boat Cape Alexander, 26th July, when the sea 
to the east was found closed. Working east as ice open- 
ings permitted, they skirted the southern shores of Victoria 
Strait, and discovering nth August a new (Simpson) strait 
reached its eastern entrance, Point Seaforth, 68° 32' \., 
97° 35' w - Point Ogle, of Sir George Back, 1S34, was 
attained 13th August, and two days later Simpson visited 
Montreal Island, — where he found in bad order the food 
cached by Back five years before. 

This accomplished their instructions, but Simpson pushed 
onto the east and reached, 19th August 1S39, their far- 
thest, Castor and Pollux Bay, 68° 28' n., 94 14' w. Turn- 
ing homeward the next day, they kept to the north shore 
of Simpson Strait, erroneously thinking this ( King William) 
land to be Boothia Felix of John Ross, 1829. Tracing 



The Northwest Passage by Land 121 

its coast some 60 miles they reached a cape (Herschel) 
68° 41' n., 98 22' w., 57 miles from James C. Ross's 
Pillar, and within 90 miles of the north magnetic pole. 

As only nine years later the Franklin expedition perished 
from starvation on this very land, it is interesting to note 
that Simpson reports it in 1839 as ' a country, abounding 
in reindeer, musk-cattle, and old native encampments.' 

Crossing to the west, Simpson later coasted along the 
south shore of Victoria Land from east of Cape Colborne 
to Cape Peel, which is west of an inlet (Cambridge Bay) 
where Collinson wintered in the Enterprise, 1852—53. 
Altogether they traced 156 geographic miles of this land 
(Victoria), which Simpson thought to be separated from 
Wollaston Land to the west, — an erroneous surmise, as 
the explorations of Collinson showed in after years. 

The party reached the mouth of the Coppermine, 16th 
September 1839, after an Arctic boat journey of 1,408 
geographic miles, the longest on record. 

All the lands visited by Simpson were dotted here and 
there by Eskimo encampments, — some occupied, some 
temporarily vacant, and others long since deserted. Game 
was abundant, both on land and at sea. However, theory 
teaches, and experience confirms theory, that game in the 
Arctic regions is especially migratory, from a variety of 
causes, so that the expectation of subsisting an expedition 
on the game of any section rests on a dangerous fallacy. 

The successful return of this expedition closed the re- 
markably successful career as an explorer of Thomas Simp- 
son, who died by violence the following spring while await- 
ing orders to assume command of another expedition. 

While Simpson's original discoveries did not equal in 
extent those of Franklin, yet profiting by the experiences 
and charts of his great predecessor, Simpson's journeys far 
exceeded Franklin's in length and duration. Simpson and 



122 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

Rae, it may be here said, worked in a country and under 
conditions with which they had for years been familiar, 
while Franklin, Back, and Richardson were obliged to 
supply their practical ignorance of conditions and means 
by fertility of resource and ability of application. 

The great success of Dease and Simpson, 1838-39, 
caused the Hudson Bay Company to arrange for another 
expedition in 1840, which was to have been commanded 
by Simpson, but his untimely death led to the abandon- 
ment of the voyage. A few years later Sir George Simp- 
son, then governor of Hudson Bay, planned an expedition 
which was to have Repulse Bay as its base, from which 
point it was believed that Boothia Felix, and the rest of 
the unknown coast of the continent could be surveyed. 
Fortunately for its success, the expedition was put under 
the command of D r John Rae, whose natural abilities, 
fine physique, conjoined to an experience often years in the 
Hudson Bay territory, admirably fitted him for the task. 

Wintering at York Factory, 1845-46, Rae, with two 
boats and ten men, left that post nth June 1S46, and 
reached Churchill Station 16 days later. His letter of 
instructions, received a week later, laid on him an amount 
of scientific duties that would require a corps of assistants 
at the present day, and, besides assigning him to com- 
mand, enjoined him to personally attend to subordinate 
duties. He was to determine astronomically all remarka- 
ble points, make bearings of all intermediate portions of 
the coast, chart these daily, ' attend to botany and geol- 
ogy ; to zoology in all its departments ; to the tempera- 
ture of air and water,' to the atmosphere, ice, winds, 
currents, soundings, magnetic dip and inclinations, aurora 
borealis, refraction of light, ethnographic peculiarities 
of the Eskimo, and such 'other (observations) as may 
suggest themselves to you,' etc. It is evident that the 
Hudson Bay Company wished full returns for its money. 



The Northwest Passage by Land 123 

It should moreover be borne in mind that Rae was sent 
into this unknown country with only four months' full rations, 
although the plan contemplated his absence for either 15 
or 27 months. In case the game resources of the coun- 
try would not support all his men he was to send back 
some ; and the letter coolly recited that he could not fail 
to find subsistence for the rest of his men, animated as he 
was to fulfil his ' mission at the cost of danger, fatigue, 
and privation.' 

Taking two Eskimo as interpreters, Rae left Churchill 
5th July 1846, the day after receiving his orders, and used 
such despatch that he reached the head of Repulse Bay 
25 th July, Meeting Eskimo there he at once had them 
draw a chart and give him information regarding the 
country to the north. They told him that the bay to the 
west of the Melville peninsula was distant overland but 40 
miles, and that the route lay across a low country, where 
a chain of lakes left only twelve miles of portages. 

Rae commenced operations that very day, and found 
the statements of the natives correct. The tide-water of 
Committee Bay was reached 1st August, in 67 13' n. Here 
other natives were fallen in with, and an Eskimo woman 
drew a chart from which Rae was led to believe that the 
only outlets to the bay were Regent Inlet to the north and 
Fury Strait to the east. It seems strange that John Ross, 
1829-33, should have passed Bellot Strait, the western 
exit, and that he in common with Rae should have met 
Eskimo who could give no information concerning this 
final link in the Northwest Passage. 

Following the west side of Committee Bay, Rae was 
ice-bound in 67 30', and returning south was no more 
fortunate on the east side. Turning homeward he crossed 
the (Rae) isthmus with three men on foot, making the 50 
miles in two days over ground so rough that they reached 
Repulse Bay ' rather foot-sore, our shoes and socks 



124 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

having been entirely worn through long before our 
arrival.' 

Preparations for winter quarters were immediately made. 
Part of the men collected stones for a house, while others 
set nets, gathered fuel, moss, and heather, or hunted. 
The stone walls of their house were roofed with boat-sails, 
and the door was made of parchment deer-skins. The 
house, called Fort Hope, was in 66° 32' N., 86° 56' w. 
When game failed in November, they had already killed 
144 deer, 14 hares, 1S0 ptarmigan, and caught 200 fish. 
Observatories, store-houses, etc., were built out of snow, 
and united by snow galleries. The natives who wintered 
and hunted near Fort Hope occasionally sold them oil for 
fuel, but this source failing late in the winter, they were so 
reduced in this respect that they took for many weeks 
only one meal a day. During a severe gale the tempera- 
ture in their house fell to zero or below ; and one man 
had his knee frozen in bed, and ' letting it be known, got 
heartily laughed at for his effeminacy.' 

The end of February 1S47 brought back deer, but 
none were shot, owing to their shyness, till the middle of 
March. Sledges were made, dogs bought, and other 
preparations made for the spring sledging. 

On 5th April 1S47, Rae started on his sledge jour- 
ney, with five men, two sledges, and eight dogs. The 
Eskimo neighbors helped him over Rae Isthmus, and then 
his hard travel began along the west shore of Committee 
Bay. Two dogs died, and the work told severely on all. 
On 1 6th April, leaving half his party in 68° 54' n. to hunt, 
and all his dogs to recruit, he proceeded with three men 
on foot. Three days later Rak reached a high divide, 
69 31' n., 91 30' w., overlooking Lord Mayor Hay of 
John Ross, 1829-33, thus connecting Hudson Bay with 
the northern discoveries of Parky and Ross. 

On reaching Fort Hope after their journey of nearly 



The Northwest Passage by Land 125 

600 miles, Rae says, ' We were all well, but so black and 
scarred on the face from the effects of oil, smoke, and frost- 
bites, that our friends believed we had met with some 
serious accident from explosion of gunpowder.' 

On 1 2 th May, Rae started again in order to follow the 
east shore of Committee Bay to Fury and Hecla Strait. 
A supporting party with a dog team accompanied him 
three days, after which he proceeded on foot with four 
men. Progress was very slow and provisions were scanty, 
but fortunately Rae shot a deer and they reached, 27th 
May 1847, 69 20' n., 85 w. Rae walked five miles far- 
ther north, whence, from a headland, he was able to see 
twelve miles to Cape Ellice, ten miles of the south of Fury 
Strait (Parry, 12th September 1822). 

Fort Hope was reached 9th June 1847, an d the return 
boat journey was made to York Factory between 12th 
August and 6th September. The number of scientific 
observations made and recorded by Rae in this journey 
must be considered as remarkable, and these with his col- 
lections indicate how much can be done by a man of 
Rae's untiring energy and uncompromising fidelity. 

This expedition practically completed the exploration 
of the coast of North America. There remained only the 
northwest shores of Boothia Felix, and the southeastern 
part of King William Land to make the survey complete. 
These were destined to be filled in during the Franklin 
Search, and in connection therewith they are treated. 

During his service, 1863-18 7 8, in Arctic America, a 
French priest, M. Emile Petitot, made many journeys in 
the Mackenzie basin and around the Great Bear and 
Great Slave lakes. His maps and publications are im- 
portant geographic and ethnographic contributions on 
these comparatively unknown regions. 

Other earnest priests and missionaries have devoted 
themselves to the Christianizing of Arctic America from 



126 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

Alaska eastward to the Mackenzie basin. The immi- 
grant and miner are gradually occupying these remote 
regions, and even the pulse and throb of steam are not 
wanting on the lower Mackenzie, and along the coast to 
the northwest. 

The waning whaling industry, which from 1874 to 
1890 in the waters adjacent to Bering Strait, made a 
catch aggregating over eleven million dollars in value, is 
steadily exploiting its last fishing grounds, between Point 
Barrow and Banks Land. "With a permanent relief sta- 
tion at Point Barrow, the ships of the Pacific Whaling 
Company find it safe and profitable to winter at Herschel 
Island, near the mouth of the Mackenzie, and in 1889 
Commander Stockton carried the U. S. S. Thetis to the 
Mackenzie, and thence by a most successful voyage 
passed west to Wrangel Island. 

Thus the coasts and regions made known through 
the daring explorations of Mackenzie, Franklin and 
Simpson, have by broadening commercial and industrial 
enterprises arisen from their position of unknown, worth- 
less wastes, to the dignity of regions contributory to the 
needs and desires of man. 



Hearne : Journey to Northern Ocean ( London 1 795) ; 
Mackenzie: Voyages to Frozen and Pacific Oceans (Lon- 
don 1801) ; Franklin: (First & Second) Journey to 
Shores of Polar Ocean (London 1824, 182S) ; Back: 
Arctic Land Expedition (London 1836) ; King: Journey 
to Arctic Ocean (London 1847); SIMPSON: Discoveries 
on the North Coast of America (London 1843) 5 Rae: 
Expedition to the Arctic Sea (London 1850) ; Petttot: 
Les Grandes Esquimaux ; Grand Lac des Esclaves; 
Grand Lac des Ours (Paris 1887, 1891, 1893). 



CHAPTER IX 

FRANKLIN'S LAST VOYAGE 

THE agitation of the Royal Geographical Society for 
farther exploration of the northern coast of Amer- 
ica and search for the Northwest Passage, was successfully 
renewed when the return of James C. Ross from the 
Antarctic seas left two well-found ships, the Erebus and 
the Terror, available. Captain John Franklin, just re- 
turned from seven years of service as governor of Tas- 
mania, was 59 years old, but as full of Arctic enthusiasm 
as ever. He would not apply for the duty, but when all 
turned to him as fitted by experience and capabilities for 
this dangerous service, he accepted unhesitatingly. He 
said : ' No service is dearer to my heart than the com- 
pletion of the survey of the northern coast of America 
and the accomplishment of the Northwest Passage.' 

With Franklin sailed Crozier, who had served with 
Parry in 182 1, 1824 and 1827, and with Sir James C. 
Ross shared the honor of having approached the nearest 
to both the geographic poles. Gore had served with Ross 
in the Antarctic, and with Back in the Terror, while other 
officers had equally distinguished themselves on duties 
demanding courage, ability, and knowledge. The ships 
were put in the best possible order, and everything was 
done that promised to either insure the safety and success 
of the expedition or promote the health and comfort of 



128 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

the men. The plan followed was that of Sir John Har- 
row, and to make clear the situation, both as regards 
Franklin's last voyage and also as to the methods fol- 
lowed for his relief (Chapters X and XI), part of the 
official instructions, dated 5th May 1845, are reproduced : 

'Section 5. Lancaster Sound and its continuation, . . . 
having been four times navigated without any impediment 
by Sir Edward Parry, . . . will probably be found with- 
out any obstacles. In proceeding to the westward, you 
will not stop to examine any openings either to the north- 
ward or southward in that strait, but continue to push 
to the westward without loss of time, in the latitude of 
about 74J , till you have reached the longitude of that 
portion of land on which Cape Walker is situated, or 
about 98 w. From that point we desire that every effort 
be used to endeavor to penetrate to the southward and 
westward, in a course as direct towards Bering's Strait 
as the position and extent of the ice, or the existence of 
land at present unknown, may admit. 

' Section 6. We direct you to this particular part of 
the Polar Sea as affording the best prospect of accomplish- 
ing the Passage to the Pacific, . . . but should your 
progress in the direction before ordered be arrested by 
ice of a permanent appearance, and if when passing 
the mouth of the strait between Devon and Cornwallis 
islands, you had observed that it was open and clear of 
ice, we desire that you will duly consider . . . whether 
that channel might not offer a more practicable outlet 
. . . and a more ready access to the open sea.' 

Franklin sailed 26th May 1S45 with 129 souls, pro- 
visioned to July 1848, and from Whale Fish Islands sent 
his last letter to the Admiralty, 12th July 1H45, but it 
contained no definite information. The Erebus ami 
Terror were last seen by a whaling captain, Dann] n, 



Franklin's Last Voyage 129 

26th July 1845, moored to an iceberg, 74 40' n., 66° 
13' w., waiting for an opening in the middle ice so as to 
cross to Lancaster Sound. Thus Franklin and his expe- 
dition vanished forever from the sight of civilized man. 

Lancaster Sound must have been practically ice-free, 
but the expedition found progress toward Cape Walker 
prevented by unfavorable ice-conditions in the eastern 
part of Barrow Strait. In this contingency Franklin 
followed the alternative allowed him, and ascended Wel- 
lington Channel, — then only known through Parry, 18 19, 
as an opening to the northward. 

Marked success attended their efforts, as Franklin 
attained 77 n. latitude, a higher point than any successor 
reached except Belcher. The extent of his necessarily 
extensive discoveries in the polar sea, to the north of 
Wellington Channel is unknown, but Franklin returned 
southward by the west of Cornwallis Land, thus proving it 
to be an island, — a fact that escaped later explorers. 

The ice to the west forbidding farther progress that 
season, the Erebus and Terror went into winter quarters 
at Beechey Island, 74 42' n., 91 32' w. An observ- 
atory and workshop were built on shore, sledge journeys 
were made to the east and north, and with returning 
summer there were even attempts at a garden. Three 
men, Braine, Hartnell, and Torrington, here died. 
As soon as the opening ice afforded an opportunity of 
advance the squadron left Beechey Island, hurriedly some 
think, as no record was left. 

From Cape Walker Franklin's course is uncertain. 
Brown, in North-West Passage, thinks that he passed 
through McClintock Strait, west of Prince of Wales Land, 
while McClintock believes, with great reason, that, enter- 
ing Peel Sound, Franklin sailed by the most direct route 
down Franklin Strait, along the west coasts of North Som- 
9 



130 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

erset and Boothia. In either event, the squadron reached 
Victoria Strait, where both ships were beset, 12 th Sep- 
tember 1S46, in the open sea, twelve miles north of King 
William Land, in 70 05' N., 98 23' w. Although the 
Northwest Passage was almost completed, — they were 
within 90 miles of the known sea of America, — the situa- 
tion necessarily caused Franklin much anxiety, the more 
so as the autumn passed without either vessel being 
released. 

The winter, 1846-47, passed without especial fatalities, 
and with opening spring, 1847, Franklin turned his 
attention to adjacent and unknown shores. We may well 
believe he would first explore King William Land, between 
Point Victory, of Ross, 29th May 1830, and Cape 
Herschell, of Simpson, 25th August 1839. While Frank- 
lin was planning this sledge journey from his ice-beset 
ships, off the west coast of Boothia, Rae was exploring 
the Boothian peninsula, where he reached, 18th April 
1847, a point less than 150 miles from Franklin. One 
of Franklin's sledge parties, under Lieutenant Gore, left 
the Erebus, 24th May 1847, and in June deposited at 
Point Victory, in a cairn of Ross, 1831, the following 
paper, which, found by McClintock's party in 1859, is 
the only record of the expedition from 1845 t0 ^47 : 

' 28th of May, 1847. 
H. M. ships Erebus and Terror wintered in the ice, in latitude 70 
05' N., longitude 9S 23' w. 

'Having wintered in 1846-47 [An error. The correct 
dates should be 1845-46. See dates at top and bottom 
of record] at Beechey Island, in latitude 74 43' 28" n., 
longitude 91 39' 15" w., after having ascended Welling- 
ton Channel to latitude 77 , and returned by the west 
side of Cornwallis Island. 

' Sir John Franklin commanding the expedition. All 



Franklin's Last Voyage 131 

well. Party consisting of 2 officers and 6 men left the 
ships on Monday, 24th May, 1847. 

Gm. Gore, Lieut. 
Chas. F. Des Voeux, Mate* 

On nth June 1847, Franklin ended his Northwest 
search by quiet death on the ice-beset Erebus. His pass- 
ing is beautifully chronicled by Lord Tennyson on the 
memorial tablet in Westminster Abbey : — 

'Not here : the white North has thy bones ; and thou, 
Heroic sailor-soul, 
Art passing on thine happier voyage now 
Toward no earthly pole.' 

By Franklin's death the command devolved on Crozier. 
What steps were taken to explore the adjacent coasts, to 
open communication with the natives, to exploit the 
resources of the country, or to reconnoitre the line of 
retreat is unknown ; but preparations for the abandon- 
ment of the vessels necessarily began when the summer of 
1847 passed without the ice breaking up. Inroads were 
made in their numbers the third year by disease, doubt- 
less fostered by enforced inactivity and a reduction of 
rations, for they were provisioned only to July 1848. 
Before the retreat 24 men died, among them a large num- 
ber of officers. 

By 1 848 the ships had drifted 1 9 miles southwest of 
their place of besetment, and Crozier abandoning them 
started for Back River. Landing at Point Victory, the 
record of Gore, 1847, was brought to their camp, and on 
its margin this record was written : — 

'April 25, 1848. — H. M. Ships Terror and Erebus 
were deserted on the 22nd of April, 5 leagues n. n. w. of 
this, having been beset since 12th September, 1846. 
The officers and crews, consisting of 105 souls, under the 



132 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

command of Capt. F. R. M. Crozier, landed in latitude 
69 37' 42" N., longitude 98 41' w. This paper was 
found by Lt. Irving, under the cairn supposed to have 
been built by Sir James Ross, in 1831, 4 miles to the 
northward, where it had been deposited by the late Com- 
mander Gore, in June, 1847. Sir James Ross' pillar has 
not, however, been found ; and the paper has been trans- 
ferred to this position, which is that in which Sir James 
Ross' pillar was erected. Sir John Franklin died on 
the nth June, 1847, and the total loss by death in the 
Expedition has been to this date 9 officers and 15 men. 

F. R. M. Crozier, Captain and Senior Officer. 
James Fitzjames, Captain H. M. S. Erebus. 
And start on to-morrow, 26th, for Back's Fish River.' 

How a party of 105 men could almost vanish in the 
limited region around King William Land has seemed 
remarkable. Three winters had necessarily affected their 
health ; among Crozier's party must have been many in 
the last stages of disease, and many others must have 
been tainted by incipient scurvy. Actuated by the de- 
termination that usually characterizes Arctic commanders, 
no doubt exists that Crozier held together his men, sick 
and well, as long as the faintest hope remained, and there 
is not the slightest indication that the miserable cry of 
Sauve qui pcut ! was ever raised. 

The journey to Back River could not be made by 
Crozier in less than 250 miles. Their movements are 
not definitely known, despite McClintock's thorough and 
magnificent search in 1859 (Chapter XI). His re- 
searches, supplemented by Eskimo narratives, have been 
fully confirmed by the later labors of Hall, 1S69. and the 
remarkable search from the summer encampment of 
Sciiwatka and Gilder on King William Land, 1S79. 



Franklin's Last Voyage 133 

Struggling along the west coast of King William Land, 
each day must have made their fate more evident. Pro- 
visions probably failed near the south end of this barren 
land, as undeniably a party returned to the ships, where 
a body was found by the Eskimo before the vessels sank 
or stranded. A small party of Eskimo saw and camped 
with some of the retreating party, but fearing their com- 
mon safety would be compromised by remaining, the 
natives stole away, leaving the white men to their fate. 
By graves and skeletons the line of retreat is traced from 
Point Victory to Todd Island, south of King William Land, 
and there are reasons to believe that some reached Point 
Ogle and others Montreal Island ; but with one and all 
it was death by disease, or worse — by starvation. 

That they met death with courage, loyalty, and solidarity 
is indisputable. The old Eskimo woman paid the high- 
est tribute possible to her ideal, that of physical merit, 
when she said to McClintock, ' They fell down and died 
as they walked,' which was verified by the position of a 
skeleton found by McClintock himself. Faithful to the 
last these heroic men, as Sir John Richardson beautifully 
says, 'forged the last link of the Northwest Passage 
with their lives.' 



McClintock: Fate of Sir John Franklin ; Voyage of Fox 
(5th ed. London 1881) ; Nourse : HaWs Second Arctic 
Expedition (Washington 1879); Gilder: Schwatka's 
Search for the Franklin Records (New York 1880) ; 
Brown: North-West Passage (London, 2 ed. i860). 



CHAPTER X 

THE FRANKLIN SEARCH BY LAND 

'"T^HE first uneasiness regarding the fate of the Franklin 
JL party was excited by communications from Sir 
John Ross to the Admiralty during the winter of 1846-47, 
but nothing, beyond offered rewards to whalers to exam- 
ine Lancaster Sound, was done until 1848, when the 
Admiralty was fully aroused. In co-operation with the 
sea-search (Chapter XI) Richardson, already familiar with 
the ground, was to descend the Mackenzie, examine the 
shore to the Coppermine, coast the west and south 
shores of Wollaston Land, and search the straits to the 
east and west, so as to cross detached parties of Sir 
James Ross, who was to operate by ship from Barrow 
Strait. Richardson secured the invaluable services of 
D r John Rae, and in a boat voyage of great difficulty 
thoroughly examined the coast between the Mackenzie 
and Cape Kendall. Here their boats were cached, 3d 
September 184S, owing to the very early winter which 
obliged the party to reach overland their winter quarters, 
Fort Confidence, 66° 54' n., 118 49' w. 

In 1S49, a single boat remained, and RICHARDSON hav- 
ing the fullest confidence in the judgment, experience, 
and prudence of D r Rae, sent him northward to examine 
the shores of Wollaston and Victoria lands. In thus act- 
ing Richardson nobly sacrificed all personal considera- 
tions, and in selecting Rae, said that his zeal, ability, 



The Franklin Search by Land 135 

personal activity, and skill as a hunter fitted him peculiarly 
for the enterprise. Leaving Fort Confidence 9th June 
1849, Rae reached twelve days later Kendall River, 
where supplies had been sent in April. The solid ice of 
the Coppermine broke so slowly that it was 13th July 
before Rae could enter the sea, and twelve days were 
consumed in reaching his cached boats of 1848. Eskimo 
along the coast were most friendly, but they knew nothing 
of Franklin's party. Rae spent 24 days at Cape 
Krusenstern in an unavailing attempt to cross Dolphin 
Strait to Wollaston Land, but gales and ice alike forbade. 

Renewing operations in 185 1, under the auspices of 
the Hudson Bay Company, Rae left Fort Confidence, 
where he had wintered, 25th April, and with two men 
reached on foot the Polar Sea, at the Coppermine. A 
journey to the westward brought them, 9th May, to 68° 
38' n., no° 02' w., whence they turned west to Douglas 
Island. Crossing Dolphin Strait, Rae was the first white 
mar. to visit Wollaston Land ; he traced its western coast 
and, 2 2d May 1851, reached Cape Baring, 70 00' n., 117 
1 f w., of Prince Albert Sound. Recrossing the strait to 
Cape Krusenstern, Kendall River was reached, 10th June. 
This foot journey of 1,100 miles, made by D r Rae in 
33 days, on a daily ration of two pounds per man, is one 
of the most remarkable on record. At Kendall River he 
met, as previously arranged, a boat- party from Fort Con- 
fidence, but they were unable to leave the Coppermine 
until 8th June. Passing through Dease Strait, Rae 
reached Cape Colburn 1st August, and commenced his 
examination of the east coast of Victoria Land, where his 
discoveries began at Cape Princess Royal, 6th August 
1 85 1. Detained by packed ice, Rae left his boat and, 
travelling on foot, attained his farthest northing, 70 03' 
N., 101 25' w., 12th August. Rae's boat was now in the 



136 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

waters, and within 50 miles of the spot where the Erebus 
and Terror were abandoned, three years and four months 
earlier. Franklin and Rae thus made by boat and ship 
the nearest approach to the Northwest Passage by sea ; 
the next nearest was by two ships, the Heela, Parry 1S19, 
and the Enterprise, COLLINSON, 1851. Rae unfortunately 
failed in his efforts to cross Victoria Strait to King Wil- 
liam Land, which was in sight, else he might have recov- 
ered the Franklin records, or discovered the stranded 
ship and learned the fate of the party four years earlier 
than he did. On his return he found at Parker Bay the 
butt of a flagstaff, with tack and line bearing the govern- 
ment mark, doubtless from the Franklin squadron. 

The next land expedition, also under D r Rae, produced 
the first evidence of the fate of Franklin's men. Leav- 
ing Chesterfield inlet by boat, 10th August 1S53, Rae 
reached Repulse Bay four days later, killing en route a 
walrus that furnished lamp-oil for the winter. Rae had 
three months' provisions, but whether he could winter yet 
depended on successful hunting or Eskimo aid. He 
pitched his tent with gloomy prospects, game scarce, no 
natives, and no traces of late visits. Rae determined to 
remain until the last moment, and endeavor to obtain 
enough fuel and food to render wintering possible. On 
1st September, fixed for their return, they had fuel for 14 
weeks, but had not been very successful in the chase. 
While prospects were not encouraging the party to a man 
volunteered to risk the winter. Fortunately game became 
abundant, and by 1st October they were safely provided, 
having killed 109 deer, one musk-ox, 106 ptarmigan, one 
seal, and caught 190 salmon, — 49 deer and the musk-ox 
being due to Rae's personal skill. 

The winter over, a cache for spring journeys was laid 
down at Lady Pelly Bay, and 31st March 1854 Rae 



The Franklin Search by Land 137 

started to explore the west coast of Boothia. On 20th 
April, in 68° 29' n., 90 19' w., he met a young Eskimo, 
who gave him the first information obtained by civilized 
man of the fate of the Franklin expedition. 

In the spring of 1850, about 40 white men were seen 
dragging a boat southward along the west shore of King 
William Land. They bought a seal from Eskimo hun- 
ters, whom they told that their ship had been crushed by 
ice, and that they were going to a land where they could 
shoot reindeer. Later that spring, before the ice broke 
up, the bodies of some 30 men were found on the con- 
tinent, and five on an island a day's march to the north- 
ward. This pointed to the Eskimo encampment of Back 
River* and Montreal Island as the places, though possibly 
they referred to Starvation Cove, of Schwatka, or Tod 
Island, of Hall, both near the mouth of Back River. 
The natives reinforced their statements by producing sil- 
ver with the Franklin crest, which, with other articles, 
left no doubt that their story was substantially correct, 
and that the Franklin expedition had perished. Numer- 
ous relics of the Franklin squadron were obtained from 
the natives and brought back to Churchill that autumn. 

Rae was compelled to hunt and explore on foot, with- 
out dog-sledge or native assistance of any kind. Under 
these disadvantages it is not to be considered surprising that 
he did not explore all of west Boothia ; it is rather a 
matter of congratulation that his geographic discoveries 
were so extended. To the east he reached Castor and 
Pollux River, thus connecting with Simpson, 20th August 
1839, an d discovered Murchison River, 27th April 1854. 
To the north along the west coast of Boothia, Rae's 
farthest was on 6th May 1854, 68° 58' n., 94 22' w., 
beyond which he sent an Indian six miles, very near Cape 
Porter, Ross, 1831. The summer game and Eskimo aid 



138 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

would have rendered the complete exploration of the 
west Boothia coast an easy matter; but RaE, returning to 
give to the world his information of the fate of Fka.nki.in, 
reached Fort York in August 1854. 

In 1855, J AME s Anderson, of the Hudson Bay Com- 
pany, descended Back River in three canoes, meeting 
Eskimo at various points. On 30th July, at the lower 
rapids, Eskimo were found with many Franklin relics. 
The natives said they came from a boat belonging to 
white men, who had died of starvation. On Montreal 
Island, 1 st August, there were Eskimo caches, in which 
were many additional relics, but ten days' search around 
the mouth of Back River gave no additional information. 
Unfortunately the expedition had no interpreter, was in- 
adequately equipped, and could not cross to King Wil- 
liam Land owing to the frailty of their boats. 

On the return of Anderson with indefinite informa- 
tion, confirmatory of other indefinite information, the 
Admiralty considered the fate of Franklin determined, 
and awarded to D r Rae and his companions ^10,000, 
the offered reward to any one setting at rest the fate 
of Franklin and his companions, which had been done 
indirectly. Thus ended the exertions of the British 
Admiralty to determine the exact fate and extend succor 
to the unfortunate members of its official expedition for 
the Northwest Passage. It remained for a wife's devo- 
tion, at private expense, to ascertain that which the gov- 
ernment of Great Britain acknowledged as its duty, but 
which its officialism was unable to accomplish. 

Nine years after Anderson, came an American, C. F. 
Hall, who had spent two years, 1860-62, with natives 
near Frobisher Bay, where he had found relics of 
Frobisher's three voyages. Determined to discover the 
Franklin record, Hall landed at Depot Island, Hudson 



The Franklin Search by Land 139 

Bay, 20th August 1864, with two natives, a whale-boat, 
tent, and moderate amount of supplies. Waiting unsuc- 
cessfully a year for Eskimo aid, he proceeded to the old 
winter-quarters of Rae, Fort Hope, Repulse Bay, and 
there wintered, 1865-66 ; and in the spring got as far as 
Cape Weyton, 68° n., 89 w., beyond which point his 
Eskimo refused to go. Here, however, he met other 
natives who had visited the deserted ships, and had seen 
Franklin. From these Eskimo Hall obtained consider- 
able silver, bearing the crest of Franklin and of other 
officers. Then, unable to reach King William Land, the 
determined Hall visited, in February 1867, Igloolik, win- 
ter-quarters of Parry, 1822. In 1868, following up the 
west side of Melville Peninsula, Hall did some geo- 
graphic work of interest by completing the short gap 
between Rae's farthest, 1846, and Parry's farthest in 
Fury Strait, 1825 ; thus filling in the last bit of the north 
coast-line of the continent of America. 

Wintering again at Fort Hope, 1868-69, Hall at last 
succeeded in securing the Eskimo aid for which he had 
patiently waited five years. Having accumulated sup- 
plies, he started, March 1869, with ten Eskimo and dog- 
sledges. Rae Peninsula was crossed to Committee Bay, 
and via Boothia Isthmus, of Ross, 1831, they reached 
James Ross Strait, within 60 miles of King William Land. 
With great reluctance the natives consented to go west 
of Pelly Bay, but at Simpson Island a successful musk-ox 
hunt put them in humor to proceed. At Point Ackland, 
eastern end of Ross Strait, they fell in with an Eskimo 
who guided them to Tod Island, South of King William 
Land, where a human thigh bone was found. On 12th 
May 1869, Hall put foot on the mainland, but the only 
tangible result of three days' search was a human skeleton. 
In returning he met other natives who had personal or 



140 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

traditional knowledge of the Franklin disaster; and their 
reports were to the effect that CROZEER with 40 men had 
dragged two sledges down the west coast of King Wil- 
liam Land the last of July 1S48, and near Cape Herschel 
met four Eskimo families, whom he told he was going to 
Repulse Bay. The natives stole away, and the party died 
of starvation. One ship drifted southwest to O'Reilly 
Island, 6S° 30' n., 99 w., which if true completes the 
entire Northwest passage by ships. Information was ob- 
tained pointing to the direct fate of 79 of the 105 retreat- 
ing men, leaving 26 to reach and perish on the American 
coast, probably at Montreal Island. 

The final land-search was made by Lieutenant F. 
Schwatka, U. S. Army, and W. H. Gilder, who wintered 
1878-79 among the natives near Chesterfield Inlet, Hud- 
son Bay. Enlisting the Eskimo in his scheme, which to 
them was an extended hunting party, Schwatka started, 
April 1879, with four whites, 14 Eskimo, food for one 
month, and abundant ammunition. Travelling overland 
to Back River he met natives, one of whom remembered 
Back, 1S34, and another had visited Franklin's ships. 
Near Montreal Island and Point Richardson, 31st May 
1879, Schwatka found a hundred Datives, who assisted in 
exploring exhaustively the continental coast-line to Point 
Seaforth, south of King William Land. The search was 
fruitless, and Schwatka was convinced that the story of a 
cairn and records, on which the expedition had been 
based, was groundless. However, he was not the man to 
lose a great opportunity ; he determined on the daring 
plan of crossing Simpson Strait to King William Land, 
and camping for the summer to search thoroughly the 
ground traversed by the retreating party. Suiwatka's 
journey to the island had entailed some 450 miles of 
travel and occupied 70 days, and the crossing to King 



The Franklin Search by Land 141 

William Land necessarily meant a five months' stay, until 
the ice of autumn made it possible to return to the main- 
land. To appreciate the hazard of this journey it should 
be remembered that the land visited, substantially un- 
known, was believed to be devoid of game. 

Crossing to King William Land, 10th June, Schwatka 
and Gilder established a summer camp as a base of oper- 
ations. With four Eskimo and dog-sledges Schwatka 
and his three white companions carefully searched the 
whole island, giving three months to the work. Four 
despoiled graves and six unburied skeletons were found, 
and the remains of the boat discovered by McClintock 
in 1859 (Chapter XI). The tenting-place in Terror Bay, 
of which the Eskimo had said much both to Hall and 
Schwatka, was not found, presumably having been oblit- 
erated by the encroachments of the sea. Many relics of 
the unfortunate men were collected, brought back, and 
presented to the English government. The record depos- 
ited by McClintock, 3d June 1859, was also found, 
though the cairn had been destroyed by Eskimo. From 
native accounts it appears that four men survived to 
1849, for their footsteps in the spring snow were seen by 
Eskimo on King William Land, where they were prob- 
ably hunting reindeer. 

In the autumn Schwatka and his companions thor- 
oughly examined the point to the westward of Point 
Richardson, Starvation Cove, where the natives told Hall 
there were the remains of a boat and of some 30 men. 
From native accounts there are good reasons to believe 
that with this boat were the records brought from the 
ship, and also the magnetic needle used in making obser- 
vations at the magnetic pole, that Franklin crossed in 
reaching the place of his final besetment. Five miles 
inland was found the skeleton of a man, probably one of 
the last survivors, who perished searching for food. 



142 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

The expedition of Schwatka and Gilder made no im- 
portant additions to geographic knowledge, for this coun- 
try had been traversed by many parties. Had it been 
otherwise their contributions must have been extensive, 
for the journey is one of the most remarkable in the 
annals of Arctic sledging. They were absent from their 
original base of supplies a year less ten days, during 
which they travelled 2,819 geographic miles. It is diffi- 
cult to say which most to admire, the daring of the plan 
or the skill that wrought its success. 

In (Young's) Cruise of the Pandora, 1876 (Chapter 
xi), MacGahan thus describes near the scene of death 
the fate of the ' last man ' of the Franklin expedition : — 

' One sees this man, after the death of his last remain- 
ing companions, all alone in that terrible world, gazing 
round him in mute despair, the sole living thing in that 
dark, frozen universe. The sky is sombre, the earth 
whitened with a glittering whiteness that chills the heart. 
His clothing is covered with frozen snow, his face lean 
and haggard, his beard a cluster of icicles. The setting 
sun looks back to see the last wretched victim die. He 
meets her sinister gaze with a steady eye, as though bid- 
ding her defiance. For a few minutes they glare at each 
other, then the curtain is drawn and all is dark.' 



Richardson : Boat Journey through Rupert Land 
(London 1851); Noursf. : IialTs Second Arctic Ex- 
pedition (Washington 1879) ; Gilder: Schwatka' s Search 
for the Franklin Records (New York 1880). For Rae, 
Anderson, and Hooper, see Arctic Blue Books, Chapter 
xviii. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE FRANKLIN SEARCH BY SEA 

THE Sea Search falls naturally into two divisions, 
from the Atlantic and from the Pacific. The first 
Pacific squadron was under Captain T. E. L. Moore, 
Plover, with Captain H. Kellett, Herald. The Plover 
was too late to pass Bering Strait, but the Herald spent 
a month of the autumn of 1848 in Kotzebue Sound, where 
later the two ships and Sheddon's yacht Nancy Dawson 
rendezvoused in July 1849. Sheddon was the first to 
round Point Barrow by ship, accompanying so far Lieu- 
tenant W. J. Pullen, who, with three boats, examined the 
coast eastward to the jnouth of the Mackenzie, where he 
arrived 5 th September. Ascending the river he wintered 
at Fort Simpson, met D r Rae there, and under new 
orders unsuccessfully endeavored in 1850 farther coast 
explorations east and north. 

Faithfully exploring the waters north of Bering Strait 
the Herald reached, 29th July 1849, 72 51' n„ 163 48' 
w., discovered one of the isolated (Herald) islands of the 
Siberian Sea, and possibly saw Wrangell Island. 

The Plover wintered in Kotzebue Sound, 1849-50, and 
reached Dease Inlet in 1850. Maguire, taking her with a 
new crew, in 1851, explored by boat that autumn to Return 
Reef (Franklin, 1827). The winters 1851-52, 1853-54, 
were passed at Point Barrow, the intervening quarters 
being at Point Clarence. The seasons at Barrow were 



144 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

utilized by D r John Simpson in studying the natives, and 
these observations, supplemented by others during his five 
years in this region, resulted in the first, and in some 
respects the most important, memoir ever published on 
the western Eskimo. 

A second squadron was sent to operate via Bering 
Strait, the Enterprise, Captain Richard Collinson, com- 
manding, and the Investigator, Captain Robert M'Clure. 
Leaving England nth January 1S50, the ships met again 
only at Magellan Strait, for M'Clure reaching first Bering 
Strait, 31st July, declined to wait 4S hours for COLLJNSON, 
and six days later avoided communication with the Plover. 
The fleet instructions read : ' We caution you against 
suffering the two vessels under your orders to separate, 
except in the event of accident or unavoidable necessity. 
[You are] in no way to hazard the safety of ships and the 
lives intrusted to your care, by your being shut up in a 
position which might render a failure of provisions possi- 
ble. The object of the expedition is to obtain intelligence 
and to render assistance to Sir John Franklin and his 
companions, and not for the purpose of geographical or 
scientific research.' Ignoring these orders, without pre- 
arranged rendezvous or definite cooperative plan, M'Clure 
rounding Point Barrow, 5th August 1850, grounded his 
ship, lost 3,300 pounds of meat, and pushed his ship so 
far into the main pack that he barely escaped besetment. 
Communicating with natives at Cape Bathurst, he turned 
north and landed, 7th September, on a new (Banks) land, 
and following a (Prince of Wales) strait to the east was 
beset in the middle of it on nth September. Drifting 
a few miles south, the Investigator, in 72 52 n., i 17 03' 
w., experienced for nine months the horrors of the pack, 
which often threatened to destroy the ship and obliged 
M'Clure to land supplies on Princess Royal Islands. 



The Franklin Search by Sea 145 

M'Clure, starting 25th October, with a sledge party 
following the strait to its northern end, reached the north- 
east extremity of Banks Land (Parry, 18 19), and over- 
looked the water-ways navigated by that explorer. This 
journey established the then earliest known existence of 
continuous water communication north of America, al- 
though we now know that an earlier and shorter route 
was discovered by Franklin, 1846-47, in attaining Simp- 
son's farthest (Chapter IX). 

In July 1 85 1, M'Clure unavailingly endeavored to sail 
northward into Barrow Strait; reaching, 14th August, 73 
14' n., he was obliged to pass Banks Land by the south. 
The navigation along the west coast was daring and dan- 
gerous in the extreme. Osborn says : ' The coast became 
as abrupt and precipitous as a wall ; the water was very 
deep ... 15 fathoms when touching the cliffs on one 
hand or the lofty ice on the other. The pack was of 
fearful description ; it drew 40 feet of water, and rose 
in rolling hills, some 100 feet from base to summit .... 
Nothing in the long tale of Arctic research is finer than 
the cool and resolute way in which this gallant band fought 
their way around this frightful coast.' 

Especial dangers need not be enumerated, but it seems 
as if on several occasions the Investigator was almost saved 
by Providence. Reaching the extreme northwest point of 
Banks Land she was beset, 20th August to nth September, 
when she fortunately escaped, and two days later was in 
the waters of Barrow Strait. ' 

Attempting night navigation, 23d September, M'Clure's 
ship grounded at the entrance of a bay (Mercy). Here 
in 74 n., 1 1 8° w., the winter of 1851-52 was passed com- 
fortably, game being abundant. M'Clure visited Melville ) 
Island and found, 29th April 1852, at the winter quarters 
of Parry (1819-20), a cairn with McClintock's record, 



146 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

dated 6th June 1851, stating that Austin's expedition had 
wintered between Cornwallis and Griffith islands ; from 
which M'Clure correctly assumed that Austin returned to 
England later in 1851. Other sledge journeys were made 
in 1852 as follows: Lieutenant Cresswkll, 32 days, 170 
miles out, explored the north and northwest coast of 
Banks Land and later followed Wollaston Land south to 
look for the Enterprise. Lieutenant Haswell, in 47 days, 
reached 70 45' n., 114 w., 14th May; eight days later 
Rae (page 134) reached a point in this inlet only 40 
miles distant. Haswell met natives living on Wollaston 
Land, and M'Clure communicating learned from them of 
the continuity of Wollaston and Victoria lands. Lieuten- 
ant Wynniatt reached, 26th May. Prince Patrick Land, 
within 60 miles of Osborn's farthest (page 135.) 

The summer of 1852 brought no chance of escape, and 
the following winter a reduction of rations was necessary, 
as game was far less plentiful. The returning sun of Feb- 
ruary 1853 found the party in a most precarious condition. 
M'Clure decided to retreat, one party to go east to 
Cape Spencer, 550 miles distant, whence they might meet 
whalers of Baffin Bay. The other party going south was 
to take the small cache at Princess Royal Island, and 
reach by boat the north coast of America and the Hud- 
son Bay posts. The parties were told off 3d March, and 
to put them in condition for the march, 15th April, were 
given full rations. This last test of human endurance was 
not exacted of the party, which was so reduced in health 
that their able surgeon, D r Armstrong, says the journey 
would have proved fatal ; in any event, three men died 
the first half of April. On 6th April 1S53, as they were 
making a grave, a sledge-party suddenly appeared, from 
Belcher's squadron wintering to the eastward, under com- 
mand of Lieutenant Bedford Pim, who, says Armstrong, 



The Franklin Search by Sea 147 

had most providentially reached the Investigator, after e a 
most severe and harassing journey of 28 days, being then 
the earliest polar traveller on record.' Later under orders 
from Sir Edward Belcher, commanding the eastern 
squadron, the Investigator was abandoned, and its crew 
crossing by sledge the ice of Barrow Strait was the first 
and last party that ever made the Northwest Passage. 

M'Clure's voyage was geographically a grand- success, 
but otherwise it must be classed as a failure. Disregard- 
ing the spirit of the official instructions he lost his ship, 
and but for the almost miraculous appearance of Pim 
would have sacrificed his crew. Had M'Clure awaited 
Collinson, the chances of discovering the Franklin party, 
in extremis or all dead, would have been greatly enhanced, 
for stronger sledging parties could have reached King 
William Land. Of M'Clure's voyage Admiral Sir Henry 
Richard says : ' But for his chief's [Collinson] unsus- 
picious and trusting nature [he] would never [have] had 
the opportunity of making himself famous.' The noble 
character of Collinson was later displayed in his defence 
of M'Clure, whose actions and success materially militated 
against Collinson's future. 

Returning to the flag ship Enterprise, Collinson 
reached Cape Lisburne, 13th August 1850, two weeks 
behind M'Clure, and met with the great polar pack 
eight days later in 72 n., 153 w. As Collinson had 
not met the Herald, and so was ignorant that the slow 
Investigator had passed eastward, he decided to run no 
risks, but to follow orders. Tracing the edge of the solid 
pack he reached, 28th August, 73 23' n., 164 w., 
having passed over the reported land of the Plover, 
Captain Moore, 29th July 1849. ' 

Returning south for the winter, Collinson entered again 
the Arctic Ocean in 185 1 and passed from Point Barrow 



148 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

eastward, 31st July. Entering Prince of Wales Strait he 
examined M'Clure's cache on Princess Royal Islands, and 
later reached the entrance of Barrow Strait, where, 31st 
August, he was in 73 30' n., 114 35' w., some distance 
beyond the farthest attained by M'CLURE in 1S50. Being 
within 57 miles of the farthest western point reached by 
the Hecla (Parry, 181 9), it is the nearest approach of ships 
in the Northwest Passage. Turning southward Collinson 
followed M'Ci.ure so closely (he had missed him com- 
ing out of his winter quarters only by ten days) that when 
Collinson sailed up the east coast of Banks Land to 
his farthest, 72 52' N., 125 w., 7th September 185 1, he 
was less than a hundred miles behind, for the Investigator 
was then beset in 74 25' n., 122 w. Thinking from 
lack of cairns that M'Clure had not followed this coast, 
Collinson wisely turned back and saved his ship. 

The Enterprise wintered in Walker Bay, 71 36' n., 
1 1 7 41' w., where she was frozen in, 21st October. 
Some forty Eskimo, summer inhabitants near Walker Bay, 
moved south in November and returned in May. 

Parties were put in the field to discover the Investigator, 
and to search for Franklin. Collinson and seven men, 
tracing the northwest coast of Prince Albert Land, reached 
in a journey of 52 days and 537 miles Glenig Bay, 13th 
May 1852. Lieutenant Jago and eight men camped, 
10th May, at the head of Prince Albert Sound, 70 43' n., 
no 45' w. Lieutenant Parkes visited Melville Island to 
search Winter harbor (Parry, 1S19), but east of Cape 
Providence he saw sledge tracks, thought he heard dogs, 
and fearing natives, as he was unarmed, turned bark with 
two men. It is the only time in all the Franklin search 
that an officer avoided other parties: he was on danger- 
ous service in any event, and had he gone on he would 
have learned that the Investigator was in Mercy Bay and 



The Franklin Search by Sea 149 

that McClintock of Austin's squadron had searched that 
coast in June 185 1. 

Breaking out of Walker Bay, August 1852, Collinson 
surveyed Prince Albert Sound, and then turned his prow 
toward Dolphin Strait, that was to lead him of all govern- 
ment expeditions nearest to the fateful remains of the 
Franklin expedition. Following the continental coast of 
America, and passing through the isle-bestrewed Corona- 
tion Gulf, he reached the east end of Dease Strait and 
went into winter quarters, at Cambridge Bay, 69 n., 105 
w., 28th September 1852. 

Resuming sledge travel in 1853, Collinson in a journey 
of 49 days searched the southeast coast of Victoria Land, 
— picking up Rae's record of 13th August 185 1 (page 
134), — and attaining his farthest, 10th May, at Gates- 
head Island, 70 26' n., ioo° 47' w. Here he looked 
east across the frozen strait, where Franklin's ship had 
sunk, to King William Land, unconscious that there lay 
the unburied skeletons of the men he sought. Rough ice 
and weak sledge parties forbade crossing, and under- 
weight coal put on board at Plymouth left no fuel for 
another' winter. 

Collinson from two sources had traces of Franklin. 
The natives of Cambridge Bay had a steam-engine rod, 
and an article marked with the Queen's broad arrow, but 
his interpreter being with M'Clure, no one was able to 
gather information as to the source whence the article came. 
Again in July 1853, Collinson found on Finlayson Island 
part of a ship's door or hatchway, which, as his boatswain, 
formerly of the Erebus, did not recognize, Collinson as- 
cribed to the Victoria abandoned east of Boothia (page 
96). 

On nth August 1853, Collinson left Cambridge Bay 
and retraced his way through the difficult and intricate 



150 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

passages to the westward. Unable to pass Camden Bay, 
owing to ice, he went into winter quarters, 29th September, 
at Flaxman Island, some 200 miles west of Point Barrow, 
in 70 n., 145 w. He was able to leave 12th July 1S54, 
and England was reached 5th May 1855, after an absence 
of five years and four months. 

The voyage of Collinsox is one of the most remarkable 
and successful on record. With a sailing ship he navi- 
gated not only the Arctic Sea forward and back through 
128 (64 one way) degrees of longitude, a feat only ex- 
celled by the steamer Vega, but he also sailed the Enter- 
prise more than ten degrees of longitude through the 
narrow straits along the northern shores of continental 
America, which never before nor since have been navi- 
gated, save by small boats and with excessive difficulty. 
Of all government naval expeditions searching for Frank- 
lin he came nearest the goal. Collinson's modest 
journal is characterized by Admiral Richards, one of the 
few living men fully competent to pass on the merits of 
Arctic work, as ' a record of patience, endurance and 
unflagging perseverance, under difficulties which have 
perhaps never been surpassed.' 

The most persistent and extensive exertions for the 
relief of Franklin were those made by sea from the 
Atlantic. The first expedition entrusted to Sir James C. 
Ross, an able officer of Arctic service, did not add to his 
reputation. Crossing the middle ice of Baffin Bay, Ross 
reached with the Investigator and Enterprise open water 
in 75 05' n., 68° w., 20th August 1848. Searching the 
coast between Pond and Possession Bays, and visiting 
such portions of the north shore of Barrow Strait as the 
ice would permit, he ran into Port Leopold, nth Sep- 
tember, where he was shut in for the winter. In May 
1849, Ross and Lieutenant McCUNTOCK explored by 



The Franklin Search by Sea 15 1 

sledge all of Prince Regent Inlet and the northern gulf of 
Boothia, except 160 miles between Fury beach and Lord 
Mayor Bay. Meanwhile in 1849, the North Star, under 
Master Saunders, was sent out with provisions to refit 
Ross, but she failed to cross the middle ice of Baffin Bay 
and wintered in Wostenholme Sound. In 1850 Saunders 
was again unable to reach Port Leopold, and landing 
his supplies near Wollaston Island reached England in 
September, where he unexpectedly found Ross. The 
summer of 1849 go ne an d tne i° e unbroken, Ross had 
erected a house, filled it with supplies, and at the earli- 
est practicable date, 28th August, cut his way out of 
Port Leopold. Bad fortune pursued him ; most unfortu- 
nately his ships were speedily beset, and despite every 
effort could not be extricated till 25 th September, off 
Pond Bay, whence he returned to England. 'Altogether,' 
as Brown says, ' this was a most unfortunate expedition.' 

The spring of 1851 was full of bustle in connection 
with the Franklin Sea Search. The Admiralty organized 
two expeditions, British private generosity sent forth a 
third, a spirit of sympathy impelled American citizens and 
its government to unite in equipping a fourth, and the 
wifely devotion of Lady Franklin put yet another ship in 
commission. Unfortunately they all tended in one direc- 
tion, Lancaster Sound, and to especial efforts on the shores 
of Wellington Sound, hundreds of miles from the proper 
place. One action of the British government was un- 
paralleled, for it put in the same field two independent 
expeditions. The whaling captain, William Penny, sailed 
in the Lady Franklin, with A. Stewart in the Sophia, 
while the larger expedition was intrusted to Captain 
Horatio Austin, R. N., with Captain Ommaney, Lieuten- 
ant Osborn, and Lieutenant Cator in command respec- 
tively of the Assistance, Intrepid, and Pioneer. A private 



152 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

expedition was under Sir John Ross, in the Felix with 
Commander G. l'miiis. The United States was repre- 
sented by Lieutenant E. J. de Haven, in the Advance, 
and M r S. P. Griffin in the Rescue, with the heroic Kane 
as fleet surgeon. Lady Franklin's vessel was the Prince 
Albert, Commander C. Forsyth and M r W. V. Snow. 

These ten vessels reached the southeast entrance of 
Wellington Channel nearly together. The first signs — 
distinct traces of Europeans — were found by Captain 
Ommaney at Cape Riley and Beechey Island, 23d August 
185 1. The impression that the encampment was of the 
Franklin expedition was changed to certainty when PENNY, 
27th August, found at Beechey Island three graves of 
men of the Erebzis and Terror, who had died between 
January and April, 1S46. There were other signs of 
the wintering, but an exhaustive search resulted in no 
other information beyond that given by scattered articles 
and the lonely graves. 

Forsyth at once carried the news to England in the 
Prince Albert, which ship it ma)' be here said sailed 
again, May 185 1, under Captain William KENNEDY, with 
a French volunteer, Lieutenant J. R. Bellot. She win- 
tered at Batty Bay, after hazardous experiences during 
which Kennedy and four men were separated from her 
six weeks, taking refuge at Somerset house (Ross, 
1832-33). Kennedy and Bellot made a very long sledge 
journey, 1,100 miles in 97 days, of great importance. 
They discovered that Brentford Bay, of Ross, was a 
(Bellot) strait, reached 21st April 1852, ioo° w., visited 
Cape Walker via Franklin Strait, and travelled entirely 
around North Somerset. Altogether the KENNEDY search 
was one of the best conducted and most promising of all, 
relative to the end in view. 

De Haven decided to return home, but strong gales 



The Franklin Search by Sea 153 

and severe cold beset and froze-in his ships. Beset in 
the middle of Wellington Channel, the American squadron 
drifted to the north, attaining 75 25' n., 93 31' w., 
where they discovered Murdaugh Island, and, beyond 
North Devon, an extensive land, which they called Grin- 
nell ; the credit of this discovery was ungraciously con- 
tested. The drift changed to the south in October 1850, 
and later to the east. Month after month, in darkness 
and solitude they moved slowly through Wellington Chan- 
nel and Lancaster Sound, travelling 1,050. miles with the 
floes to which they were indissolubly bound for over eight 
months. Life on the ships was almost unendurable with 
its anxieties, monotony, and privations. Disruption of the 
pack threatened almost daily, with prospects of a winter 
on the naked floe under conditions of disease, darkness, 
and biting cold. July released the shattered vessels, but 
De Haven felt obliged to abandon the search, and reached 
the United States, 30th September 1851. 

The Lady Franklin, Sophia, and Felix wintered in 
Assistance Bay at the south end of Cornwallis Land. In 
the spring of 185 1 Phillips of Ross's party crossed Corn- 
wallis Island. Penny in a journey to Hamilton Island 
found,' 18th May 185 1, his progress stopped by open 
water, which reached as far north in Wellington Channel 
as he could see, and led him to believe that the missing 
squadron was in that quarter. Stewart and Sutherland 
of his squadron explored the east side of Wellington 
Channel between Capes Eden and Belcher, and Goodsir 
following the west side explored the north coast of Corn- 
wallis Land, reaching its northwest extremity, and just 
stopped short of discovering that the land was an 
island. 

The great sledging work, however, was that of Austin's 
squadron. The preparations and successful accomplish- 



154 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

ment of these journeys indicate forethought and executive 
ability of no slight order on the part of AUSTIN ; and in 
turn the determination, endurance and energy of the 
officers and men were every way worthy of the Royal 
Navy. The squadron was frozen in at Griffith Island, in 
September 1S50, when autumnal journeys to lay out 
depots for spring travel at once began. 

In 1 85 1 Austin intrusted to Captain Ommaney the 
principal search in the vicinity of Cape Walker, the place 
to which his instructions carried Franklin. Ommam.v, with 
Lieutenants Osborn, Browne, and Mecham, discovered 
and outlined the north half of Prince of Wales Island, 
and in his report properly remarks that the coast search 
was ' exactly in the route where Sir John Franklin was 
instructed to seek a passage to the American continent.' 
His comments on the northern coast, which was shoal 
and ice-lined with grounded floes, indicate its unnaviga- 
bility. There was no trace of Franklin either at Cape 
Walker or on any point of Prince of Wales Land, which 
justifies the opinion that he never landed thereon, but 
followed its east coast down Peel Sound. In his North- 
west Passage, Brown remarks: 'Previous to the journey 
of this excellent officer (Ommaney), no attempt had been 
made to reach Cape Walker, or to follow the Franklin 
expedition in the direction ordered in Section 5 of his 
instructions, and yet six years had passed, and it was 
known that the expedition was victualled for only 
three.' 

Other sledging divisions equally distinguished them- 
selves by their field-work, the journeys of McClJNTOCK 
and Bradford being particularly creditable. The energy 
displayed, and geographic work done, by Austin's ex- 
pedition are illustrated in the following table : — 



The Franklin Search by Sea 



155 









> 


t a 












< 








Commanders 


2 


a 
O 
to 

> 
< 
Q 




K 


Farthest Point 
. Reached 


Date 

1851 


Capt. E. Ommaney . 


6 


60 


4S0 


205 


72 44' N- IOO° 42' W. 


24th May 


Lt. S. Osborn . . . 


7 


sS 


506 


70 


72 18 103 25 


23d " 


Lt. W. H. Browne . 


6 


44 


375 


15° 


72 49 96 40 


13th " 


Lt. R. D. Aldrich . 


7 


62 


55o 


70 


76 16 104 30 


17th " 


Lt. McClintock . . 


6 


80 


760 


40 


74 38 114 20 


28th " 


Surg. Bradford . . 


6 


80 


669 


135 


76 23 106 15 


22d " 



Austen concluded that Franklin did not proceed to 
the south or west of Wellington Channel, and deemed it 
unnecessary to prosecute farther search in these directions, 
while Penny believed that nothing more could be done 
to the north : consequently both decided to return to 
England that autumn, 185 1. Their differences and es- 
trangement led to a parliamentary investigation, which 
was not detrimental to either expedition. 

The Arctic committee, however, recommended another 
effort via Barrow Strait, and with strange fatuity said : 
'We consider no farther exploration ... to the south- 
ward of Cape Walker necessary, and therefore propose 
that, all the energy of the expedition be directed toward 
the examination of the upper portion of Wellington Strait.' 
The expedition consisted of Sir Edward Belcher com- 
manding ; Assistance, Commander George H. Richards ; 
Resolute, Captain Henry Kellett ; Pioneer, Lieutenant 
Sherard Osborn; Intrepid, Commander F. L. McClin- 
tock, and transport North Star, Lieutenant Pullen. 

The squadron reached Wellington Channel, 14th Au- 
gust, whence D r M'Cormick in a hazardous boat-journey 
examined the lower part of the strait. Belcher sent 
Kellett and McClintock to the west, and with Osborn 
ascended Wellington Strait to an isle-covered (North- 
umberland) sound, where he wintered in 76 52' n., 



i 5 6 



Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 



97 w. With Richards, his most efficient coadjutor, and 
Osborn he discovered that autumn Kxmouth and Corn- 
wall Islands, the latter in 77 34' N., 97 w. RICHARDS 
and Osborn took the field with sledges, 10th April 1853. 
They examined thoroughly Cornwallis, Bathurst and Mel- 
ville Islands, making many new discoveries in their 
remarkable journey of 860 miles, in 94 days. Belcher 
starting northeast reached a (Belcher) channel, 7 6° 31' 
n., 90 \v., 20th May 1S53, and returned through Arthur 
Strait, by the east side of Grinnell Land, thus proving it 
to be an island. In a second trip he reached, 10th June, 
an (Buckingham) island, 77 10' N. 

The Resolute, Kellett, and Intrepid, McClintock, 
reached Melville Island, September 1852, but being 
unable to enter Winter Harbor returned to Dealy Island, 
where they were frozen in, 10th September. During the 
autumn and spring, 1S52-53, the following sledging was 
done, in days of service and miles of travel, by this 
division of the squadron: McClimock, 145 days, 1,661 
miles; Mecham, 117 and 1,375; R. Roche, 79 and 
I )°39i G. S. Nares, 94 and 9S0 ; 1 ) r 1 Iomville, 77 and 
739, and De Brav, 62 days and 642 miles. Altogether 
the travel amounted to 8,558 miles. 

The most notable spring journeys were : — 



Commander 



Com. McClintock . . 
Lieut. G. F. Mecham 
Mate ('.. S. Nares . . 
Lieut. B. V. Hamilton. 
Lieut- Bedford Pim 
D r Domville . . . . 



^ 






f- 


h 




< 

J 
< 


O 
< 


k a 

H H 




P 




H 






9 


"OS 


1401 


8 


94 


1163 


8 


6 


980 


8 


68 


974 


8 


62 


6lS 


8 


76 


739 



Farthest Reached 



77° 23' N. 11 s a ' w 
77 06 

75 ?2 

7<» 3S 

74 °6 

74 06 



120 30 

119 30 

104 50 

1 1 7 56 

116 56 



Date 
>853 



17th June 
j Itfa M.iv 

s3 '• 

26U1 " 

6th " 
21st " 



McClintock, already famous as the greatest of Arctic 



The Franklin Search by Sea 157 

sledgemen, surpassed himself by a journey remarkable 
for its duration, distance, and success, while Mecham was 
scarcely second. 

By all means the most important results were those 
arising from the journey of Lieutenant Bedford Pim, of 
the Resolute. The autumnal journey of Mecham to estab- 
lish depots on Melville Island led him to Winter Harbor, 
where he discovered the record left by M'Clure the pre- 
ceding spring. Fearing that the Investigator might have 
been detained at Mercy Bay, Kellett at the earliest 
moment despatched Pim, who took the field 10th March. 
His sledge broke down before the journey was half ac- 
complished, but fortunately Pim appreciated the gravity 
of the situation. Leaving Domville to follow as best he 
could, Pim with two men and a dog-sledge pushed on and 
reached the Investigator, by the earliest extended spring 
journey on record, — 160 miles in 28 days. Had Pim 
turned back it would have been fatal to some of the crew 
of the Investigator, for he reached the ship only nine days 
prior to the date fixed by M'Clure for her abandonment. 
It is safe to say that Pim's determination, judgment, and 
exertions averted another Franklin disaster, and instead 
enabled the crew of the Investigator to complete the 
Northwest Passage. 

The summer of 1853 was very backward, Barrow Strait 
failed to break up in July, and Belcher had to face the 
contingency of another winter, with his position weakened 
by the disabled crew of the Investigator draining his sup- 
plies. Under these circumstances he ordered the aban- 
donment of the R-esolute and Enterprise, which were 
fast-bound in the unbroken ice far to the west of Lan- 
caster Sound. But the ice to the eastward still held firm 
around his own ships, and it was not until 5 th August that 
the first ship, North Star, was in open water. Determin- 



158 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

ing to avoid at any cost a third winter in the ice, Belcher 
ordered the abandonment of the Assistance and the Pio- 
neer. The crew of the five ships were assembled on 
the remaining vessel, North Star, and on 25th August 
she turned homeward. Barely had she started when two 
vessels, the Phoenix and Talbot, were sighted, which 
strangely enough bore orders practically identical with 
the line of action of Belcher. The Lords of the Admi- 
ralty and their representatives in Arctic waters tacitly 
declared, despite the fact that Franklin's fate was yet 
unsettled, that this was the last of Arctic voyages. 

The sledging feats of McClintock, Mecham, and others, 
and the accomplishment of the Northwest Passage by 
M'Clure, excited enthusiastic and deserved praise in 
Great Britain, but exultations over these heroic deeds of 
British seamen were not unmingled with feelings of shame 
and indignation that the outcome of these expeditions 
was the abandonment of five ships of the Royal Navy, 
and that such action was taken without determining the 
fate of Franklin. M'Clure and his men, sent out under 
double pay for the relief of Franklin and not for 
geographic exploration, claimed the reward for the North- 
west Passage and were granted ,£10,000 ; but the skele- 
tons of Franklin's men were left unfound and unburied. 

It may appropriately be added that Belcher's action in 
avoiding another winter and in abandoning farther search 
for Franklin to the north or west of Lancaster Sound is 
amply justified by present knowledge. The strong feel- 
ing in England against Belcher was later emphasized 
by the remarkable voyage of the Resolute. This ship, 
abandoned by Belcher's orders, 15th May 1854, in 74 
41' N., 101 \v., withstood the ice in 1S55, and drifting 
a thousand miles through Barrow Strait, Lancaster Sound, 
and Baffin Bay, was discovered north of Cape Dyer, in 



The Franklin Search by Sea 159 

6 7 N., and brought safely to port by Captain J. M. Bud- 
dington, an American whaler. Congress appropriated 
$40,000 for the purchase of the Res,olute, and refitting 
her presented her to the Queen and people of Great 
Britain as a token of good-will on the part of the 
American people. Ships' -stores, flags, officers' libraries, 
and so on, had been preserved, and were restored to their 
original position, so that to her old officers she appeared 
to be exactly as she was when abandoned in the Arctic 
Seas. 

But if the British government was content to leave the 
Arctic mystery unsolved, the wifely devotion of Lady 
Franklin viewed the matter differently. Of the ,£35,000 
spent by private parties for the relief of Franklin, far the 
larger part came from her personal fortune. Her pre- 
scient judgment and undaunted perseverance outlined 
the correct plan and furnished the means ; and had 
Kennedy been able to go south from Bellot Strait the 
question would have been solved years earlier. The 
discoveries of D r RaE (page 135) had determined that 
the expedition had perished, but Lady Franklin insisted 
on knowing the whole tale. As the British government 
declined to continue the search, she decided to expend 
all her available means for a final effort. 

Most fortunately she secured the services of Captain 
Leopold McClintock, who had signally distinguished 
himself under Ross (1848-49), Austin (1850-51), and 
Kellett (1853-54). McClintock sailed in the steam 
yacht Fox, 1st July 1857, with two able and energetic 
officers, Captain Allen Young and Lieutenant W. R. 
Hobson, R. N. Beset in the middle, of Melville Bay, the 
Fox drifted eight months, 1,200 miles to the south. The 
hardships of an Arctic winter are sufficiently depressing at 
the best, but when experienced under conditions where 



160 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

the fate of ship and crew hang for months in the balance, 
and at a time when deferred action seems to offer certain 
failure, it is difficult to understand how McClINTOCK and 
his officers endured them. They did more, however, 
for when they escaped, after a winter in the drifting pack, 
their renewal of the search is unparalleled in the history 
of Arctic service. 

Refitting in the Greenland ports, McClintock reached 
Beechey Island, and there erected a monument to the 
Franklin expedition. Following Peel Sound south — in 
the very track of Franklin — and meeting solid ice, they 
turned on their tracks and anchored in Port Leopold, 
19th August 1858. Examining the stores here left by 
J. C. Ross in 1849, McClintock sought the uncertain 
passage to the west (Brentford Bay of John Ross, 1829) 
thought by Kennedy to be a (Bellot) strait. McClin- 
tock found it a nominal passage to the west, for his most 
strenuous efforts failed to force the Fox through, although 
he made five determined attempts. He was eventually 
obliged to go into winter quarters at its northeast ex- 
tremity, in Port Kennedy, 72 n., 94 w. 

Advance depots for spring travel were laid out that 
autumn, and on 17th February 1859, McClintock started, 
in a temperature of 6o° to 70 below freezing, to com- 
municate with the Boothians, whom he found twelve days 
later when encamped at the north magnetic pole. There 
were 45 natives well provided with relics of a (Franklin) 
party of ' white people [who] starved upon an [Montreal] 
island where there is a [Back] river.' McClintock re- 
turned to the Fox 14th March, having travelled 360 miles, 
practically completed the coast line of continental Amer- 
ica, and added no miles of new land to the charts. 

On 2d April, McClintock and Hobson started on their 
final journey, each with a man-sledge and a dog-sledge. 



The Franklin Search by Sea 161 

Meeting the natives, from whom McClintock bought many 
relics, they said : Two ships had been seen near King Wil- 
liam Land ; one sank, and the other was forced on the 
shore by ice and broken up ; the ships were destroyed 
in the autumn, and all the white people, taking boats, 
went away to the large river, and the following winter 
their bones were found there. Cape Victoria was reached, 
28th April 1859, whence Hobson was sent direct to Cape 
Felix, King William Land, to search the west coast for 
the stranded ship and records ; and if there unsuccessful 
to carry out the original plan of completing the discovery 
and search of Victoria Land, between the extremes reached 
by Collinson and Winnyatt (page 146). 

McClintock followed the coast southward and en- 
camped, 1st May, near Port Parry. Six days later he 
fell in with 40 Eskimo, who sold him silver plate and 
other relics- They informed him that the ship had dis- 
appeared, that there were many books long since destroyed 
by weather, and that the wreck had last been visited in 
the winter of 1857-58. An old woman who had visited 
the wreck said that many of the white men perished at 
Back River ; some were buried and others not. Follow- 
ing the east coast of King William Land, McClintock 
crossed to Point Ogle, and 15 th May reached Montreal 
Island. A thorough search resulted in but few traces of 
Europeans, among which, however, were a few remnants 
of boat-fittings. The coast and bays of Simpson Strait 
were carefully examined without result, and the party 
crossed to King William Land, 24th May. The next 
night McClintock came upon a bleached human skeleton 
lying on its face, in a position which indicated that the 
man, suffering from hunger and exhaustion, had fallen and 
died in that posture, thus confirming the truth of the words 
u 



1 62 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

of the old Eskimo woman, who said : 'They full down and 
died as they walked.' 

The most important relics were in Erebus Bay, northeast 
of Cape Crozier, where Hobson, preceding McClintcm k, 
had discovered a boat on a sledge, pointing northward as 
though it had been abandoned while the party were travel- 
ling in that direction. In the boat were two human skele- 
tons, and around it large quantities of clothing and all 
kinds of odds-and-ends, of great weight and little use ; 
the only provisions were 40 pounds of chocolate and a 
little tea. Near Cape Crozier, McClintock learned from 
records of Hobson that this coast had been thoroughly 
explored without finding the slightest trace of records or 
natives, and, what was of the greatest importance, that he 
had found at Point Victoria, on the northwest coast of 
King William Land, a record, the first and last direct 
information that has ever come from the Franklin party. 

This record (pages 1 29-131) briefly sets forth their 
winter at Beechey Island, their important geographic dis- 
coveries in Wellington Channel, the besetment of their 
vessels near King William Land, the death of Fraxki.ix, 
eight other officers, and 15 men, the abandonment of the 
ships, 25 th April 1848, after two years' besetment, and the 
efforts of Crozier, with 105 souls, to reach Back River. 

Hobson came first upon traces of Franklin's expedition 
west of Cape Felix, where he found a large cairn, three 
tents, a small English ensign, and many less important 
articles. So thorough was his search of the coast, says 
McClintock, that 'coming over the same ground after him, 
I could not discover any traces that had escaped him.' 

McClintock and Hobson reached the Fox, 14th and 
19th June, respectively, the former having visited Montreal 
Island, completing the exploration and circuit of King 
William Land, while Hobson had found the Franklin 
record. 



The Franklin Search by Sea 163 

Young was still absent. With a four-man-sledge and a 
dog-team he commenced explorations 7th April, and find- 
ing a channel between Prince of Wales Land and Victoria 
Land, sent his men back, and for 40 days travelled with 
one man and a dog-sledge. Driven back to the Fox by 
the great exposure and the fatigue, which seriously im- 
paired his health, he entered the field again after three 
days' rest, despite the protest of D r Walker. Young was 
in the field 78 days under most discouraging circumstances. 
He crossed Franklin Strait to Prince of Wales Land, traced 
its shores to its southern termination at Cape Swinburne, 
and attempted to cross McClintock Channel, but the ice 
was too rough to render the journey practicable with the 
means and time at his disposal. He completed the ex- 
ploration of this coast beyond Osborn's farthest to nearly 
73 n., and in addition explored both shores of Franklin 
Strait between the Fox and Ross's farthest in 1849, and 
Brown's in 1851. In all, Young explored 380 miles of 
new coast, which, with 420 miles discovered by McClintock 
and Hobson, made a magnificent contribution of 800 geo- 
graphic miles of new shore-line. 

It may here be added that Young, in 1875, made a 
gallant attempt to sail through Peel and Franklin straits, 
pass east of King William Land, and reach Bering Strait. 
Unfortunately, he was forced back by an impassable ice- 
barrier in Peel Strait, 72 14' n. (See Young : The Two 
Voyages of the Pandora: London, 1879.) 

Breaking out of Port Kennedy, 4th August 1859, McClin- 
tock was obliged, owing to the death of his engineer, to 
stand at the engine 24 consecutive hours. The return 
journey was difficult, but without serious mishap, and the 
Fox reached Portsmouth, 24th September 1859, where 
definite information of the fate of Franklin's expedition 
for the first time reached the civilized world. 



164 Handbook of Air tic Discoveries 

The news of Franklin's Northwest Passage and accom- 
panying geographic triumphs, of his besetment and death 
with 23 others, of Crozier's fateful retreat and perishing 
men, swept instantly over the world, awakening sympathy 
for the dead, and winning plaudits for the bravery and skill 
of the living who had wrested from the silent North the 
story of Sir John Franklin and his crew. 



See British Arctic Blue Books, Chapter xviii ; Seb- 
man, end Chapter vi ; Osborn and Armstrong, end 
Chapter vii ; Snow: Voyage Prince Albert, 1850 (Lon- 
don 185 1) ; Kennedy: Second Voyage Prince Albert 
(London 1853); Sutherland: Voyage Lady Franklin 
and Sophia, 2 v. (London 1853) ; Kane: First Grinned 
Arctic Expedition (New York 1S54) ; Belcher : Last of 
Arctic Voyages, 2 v. (London 1855) ; McDougall : Voy- 
age H. M. S. Resolute, 1852-54 (London 1857) j Brown : 
Northwest Passage (London, 2d edition, i860) ; McCi.in- 
TOCK : Fate of Sir John Franklin ; The Voyage of the Fox 
(London, 5th edition, 18S1); Collinson : Journal of 
H. M. S. Enterprise (London 1889). 



CHAPTER XII 

NORTH-POLAR VOYAGES 

CONTRARY to the general impression, Arctic voyages 
for reaching the north geographic pole have been 
the exception rather than the rule. Robert Thorne suc- 
cessfully urged on Henry the Eighth a renewal of the 
search for a short northern route to China by sailing 
across the North Pole ; but of the resulting expedition 
in 1527, which consisted of two ships, only its failure is 
definitely known. 

Eighty years later, Henry Hudson's first recorded voy- 
age, 1 st May 1607, was to discover a passage by the North 
Pole to Japan and China. The heavy ice of the Spitz- 
bergen Sea stopped him in 8o° 23' n., off the east coast 
of Greenland, 13th July. Although the North Pole was 
not crossed, far-reaching results followed, which are set 
forth in the account of Spitzbergen. Jonas Poole's voy- 
ages of 1610-n turned to fishing ventures without passing 
to the north of Spitzbergen. 

The next voyage of note is that of Captain J. C. Phipps, 
afterward Lord Mulgrave, who sailed, 4th June 1773, in 
the Racehorse, with Captain S. Lutwidge in the Carcass. 
Following the west coast, ice was fallen in with at the 
northwest extremity of Spitzbergen, and the edge of the 
ice-barrier was traced some ten degrees to the west until 
9th July, in 8o° 36' n., when Phipps found farther progress 
impossible. Eventually he was compelled to abandon the 
voyage, having reached 8o° 48' n., 20 e., a higher lati* 



1 66 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

tude than any of his predecessors. Especial interest 
attaches to this expedition as the immortal Nelson, then 
a lad of fifteen, served as PfflPPS'S coxswain, and by a 
foolhardy adventure with a bear is said to have barely 
escaped death, as he persisted in attacking the animal 
under most dangerous circumstances. 

In the revival of Arctic explorations in 1817, Great 
Britain decided to send two of its four polar vessels to 
reach the Pacific by crossing the North Pole. Captain 
D. Buchan commanded, in the Dorothea, with Lieutenant 
John Franklin, just recovered from his wound of New 
Orleans, in the Trent. Sailing 25th April 1818, and 
rendezvousing in June at Magdaleua Bay, Spitzbergen, 
Buchan was able to sail no farther north than So 37' n., 
where his ships were beset. A severe storm on 30th July 
freed the ships, but the Dorothea was so badly crushed 
by frequent nips of the ice-pack that she was in danger of 
foundering. The Trent convoyed her to a Spitzbergen 
port, and in October they returned to England. 

Whalers are not concerned in crossing the Pole, but 
doubtless some of the Dutch skippers, hundreds of whom 
passed annually for a century the 80th parallel, found the 
open water and a single day's favorable wind that would 
have carried them beyond 83 or 84 N. latitude. Exact 
data are wanting as to their exploits, and the story of 
sailing across the Pole may well be discredited. How- 
ever, Scoresby, the famous British whaler, passed far be- 
yond any other authenticated northing, when he reached 
8i° 30' n., 19° e., 24th May 1806. 

Holding fast to the Spitzbergen route for the Pole, 
unquestionably the most promising of navigable routes, 
Parry attempted in 1S27 to reach the Pole. Profiting 
by his experiences in four previous Arctic voyages, Parky 
most carefully equipped his expedition, which sailed in 



North-Polar Voyages 167 

the Heda. The ship was safe in Trurenberg Bay 20th 
June, and here the only change of programme occurred, 
as Parry decided to leave behind the tame reindeer he 
had brought as draught animals. The very next day 
Parry left with two boats (fitted with steel-shod runners 
so as to serve as sledges), 28 souls, and provisions for 
71 days. The final departure from land was made 23d 
June, at Little Table, one of the Seven Islands. 

Ice was fallen in with immediately, and progress was 
exceedingly slow and fatiguing, owing to unfavorable con- 
ditions which continued to the end. Fog and rain were 
astonishingly frequent, the ice-floes were loose, small, and 
exceedingly rugged, the water-pools of small extent and 
not connecting, and the ice itself was largely in the shape 
of irregular, needle-like crystals placed vertically, nearly 
close together and pointed at both ends. As summer 
advanced the needles became movable, rendering it ex- 
tremely fatiguing to walk over them, besides cutting both 
boots and feet. Changes from floe to water and back 
occurred several times each march, which commenced 
about 'six p.m. and lasted till early morning. Sometimes 
the boats had to be moved up or down almost perpen- 
dicular slopes, and frequently the same road had to be 
travelled five times, as the whole load could not be ad- 
vanced at the same time. 

The daily northing averaged about five miles at first, 
but it gradually dropped, as indicated by the following 
daily latitudes : 5th July, 8i° 45' n. ; 10th, 82 03' ; 12th, 
82 ii'j 13th, 82 17'; 17th, 82 31'; 20th, 82 36' ; 
21st, 82° 39'; 22d, 82° 43'; 24th, estimated 82 45' ; 
and 26th July, 82 ° 42'. 

On 20th July, however, Parry made a discovery that 
destroyed his hopes of making a very high latitude. In 
three days his dead reckoning showed that he had made 



1 68 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

twelve miles to the north, but his observations gave less 
than five miles. Sixteen hours of effort the following day 
enabled them to advance between ten and eleven miles, 
but the observations gave not quite four miles. They had 
drifted to the south nearly seven miles during their rest 
and sleep of eight hours., and the southerly drift since 16th 
July had averaged four miles per day. 

The extreme point reached, 82 45' N., 20 e., was 172 
miles from the Hecla, by a free water- route of 100 miles 
and of 192 miles over floes and water-pools, raised by 
doubling travel to a total of 580 miles, about the dis- 
tance from the Hecla to the Pole \ the entire journey 
covered 61 days and 970 miles. 

The expedition failed to obtain the ^1,000 offered if 
they reached 83 n., but they secured for England a new 
record of the highest latitude, 82 45' N., which remained 
for 48 years the farthest north. Parry's success was 
received with the greatest enthusiasm in Great Britain, 
and distinctions at home and from abroad were freely 
conferred on him. Franklin returned from Arctic 
America at the same time, and both the distinguished polar 
travellers were knighted by the Crown and honored by 
degrees from Oxford. 

The voyages of Kane, 1853, and Hayes, 1859, were 
not open attempts to reach the North Pole, though inci- 
dentally the leaders looked in that direction. Their ex- 
peditions are treated in connection with Smith Sound. 

The next North-polar expedition, that of Sweden in 
the Sofia, was organized by NORDENSKIOLD, who accom- 
panied it as the scientific chief, the naval commander 
being Captain (Count) F. W. von Otter. The plan was 
to reach the northernmost accessible port of Spitzbergen 
in early autumn, and leaving on a favorable occasion attain 
by ship as high a northing as possible. Smeerenberg Bay 



North-Polar Voyages 169 

was the place of rendezvous, whence various scientific 
journeys were made. In early September the Sofia made 
an unsuccessful attempt to reach the Seven Islands. Leav- 
ing Smeerenberg again, 16th September, von Otter found 
a heavy ice-pack in the vicinity of Seven Islands, but by 
doubling and pushing he reached, 19th September 1868, 
8i° 42' n., 1 7 30' e., the highest latitude attained by ship, 
though surpassed by the Fram in 1894-95. Elsewhere it 
has been exceeded by Hall, Polaris, 1870 ; Nares, Alert 
and Discovery, 1875 ; and Greely, Proteus, 1881. 

A third attempt failed, owing to the Sofia being injured 
by collision with a floe, which necessitated her return that 
autumn to Sweden. In addition to the then unprecedently 
high latitude by ship, Nordenskiold made such valuable 
collections that Heer said he had achieved more, and 
broadened more the horizon of knowledge, than if he had 
merely reached the North Pole. 

Although not next in chronological order, it is best here 
to mention the Swedish polar expedition of 1872, organ- 
ized by Nordenskiold with the expectation of reaching 
the Pole by reindeer-sledging from a ship in North Spitz- 
bergen as his base of operations. The Polhem was put 
under Lieutenant Palander, Swedish navy, and made its 
winter-quarters in Mussel Bay. Elsewhere (Chapter V) 
have been set forth the unfortunate conditions under which 
the supply ships were frozen in, with many Norwegian 
walrus hunters. Though his reindeer were lost and his 
party weakened by their generous treatment of the men 
thrust upon them, yet Nordenskiold and his companions 
did not abandon their spring work. Three sledges left 
Mussel Bay 24th April 1873; but two breaking down, 
and other accidents occurring, Nordenskiold did not 
reach Phipps Island until 17th May, then with a single 
sledge. The ice to the north was so exceedingly rough 



170 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

that it was evident no progress could be made, and Nor- 
denskiold, wisely abandoning the effort to the north, re- 
turned to the Polhem by the way of the inland ice- 1 f 
North-East Land (Chapter V). 

The first German North-polar expedition was fitted out 
in 1S6S through the exertions of D r PETERMAN, who sent 
Captain K. Koldewey in the Germania. Unable to reach 
East Greenland, which was to be the line of approach, 
Koldewey sailed to Spitsbergen, reached Si° 05' n. off 
the north coast, and sailing down Henlopen Strait sighted 
Wiche Land, and reached home that autumn. 

The second German expedition fitted out immediately, 
with Koldewey commanding in the Ger/nania, and Cap- 
tain Hegemann in the Hansa. The Germania reached the 
rendezvous, Sabine Island, East Greenland, and its for- 
tunes there are elsewhere considered (Chapter XVII). 
The Hansa, separating by misunderstanding from her 
consort, was frozen in the pack, 5th September, and 
drifting south with the ice was crushed, 19th October. 
A house was built on the floe, where the party barely 
escaped death on several occasions, when violent storms 
broke up the main ice. The shipwrecked men, who had 
drifted over 600 miles along, and in sight of, the barren 
coast of Greenland, on 7th May, after 200 days' drift, 
took to their boats in 6i° 12' n., and rounding Cape Fare- 
well reached Friedrichstal, 13th June 1871. 

The United States in 1870 sent M r C. F. Hall on a 
North-polar expedition in the Polaris, and his discoveries 
are considered in connection with Smith Sound. It may 
be here said that Hall attained in the Polar Ocean 
82 n' n., then the highest north ever reached by ship, 
exceeded later by Nares, 1S76, and by Nansen, 1894-95. 
The British polar expedition of 1S75 following Smith 
Sound is treated elsewhere (Chapter XIV), except the 



North- Polar Voyages 171 

effort to reach the North Pole, which was made from 
Floeberg Beach, the Alerfs winter quarters, 82 24' n. 
The command was entrusted to a gallant officer of great 
ability, Commander A. H. Markham. Supported as far 
as Cape Henry, 82 55' n., Markham took the frozen 
polar sea, 10th April 1876, with 2 sledges and 17 men. 

The dread of the open polar sea overshadowed their 
prospects by loading the sledgemen with two boats, which 
so weighed them down that they advanced with divided 
loads, and the 73 miles made good from the ship neces- 
sitated 276 miles of travel. One boat was soon aban- 
doned, but the other was dragged to 83 20' n., 64 w., 
the farthest north to that time, and only once exceeded. 
This point was reached 12th May 1876, by exertions that 
taxed human endurance to the utmost, owing to the in- 
describably rugged conditions of the ice-floes. Disease 
disabled the party long before it turned back, when not 
less than five of the 17 men were on the sledge, disabled 
by scurvy. That such a northing was made at all was due 
to the persistent energy of Markham and the heroic deter- 
mination of his men. During the return journey matters 
went from bad to worse • the second boat was abandoned, 
the disabled increased in number, and the whole party 
would have perished but for the extraordinary march of 
twenty-four hours made by Lieutenant A. C. Parr to the 
Alert, whence aid was obtained. One man died en route, 
and eleven others of the original 17 were carried to the 
ship on sledges. No party ever strove harder, nor more 
deserved success, than did that of Markham, and that 
their success was marred by disaster arose from causes 
beyond control, — incipient scurvy and over-loading. 

The Peary success of 1891 and his failure of 1894 are 
too intimately associated with Greenland (Chapter XVII) 
for treatment here. Undiscouraged by two failures to 



172 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

reach a very high latitude, this energetic explorer con- 
tinued his efforts, as shown later in this chapter. 

In 1S94 Walter Wellman was endeavoring to reach 
the pole from Spitzbergen, when his ship Ragnvald Jarl 
was crushed by the pack at Walden Island. Undeterred 
by the disaster, Wellman continued north by sledge, but 
very rough ice turned him back east of Platen Island, 
Si n. Later Wellman renewed his efforts via Franz Josef 
Land, where his failure towards the north was compen- 
sated by important discoveries (Chapter XV). North- 
polar expeditions of Baldwin and Fiala via Franz Josef 
Land have been equally fruitless of high latitudes. In 
1894 an expedition commanded by F. Jackson' failed in a 
polar attempt, though contributing important results in 
Franz Josef Archipelago (Chapter XV). 

Although not pertaining to the geographical pole, the 
voyage of Amundsen, and Lieut. G. Nansen, Danish Navy, 
to the north magnetic pole deserves special mention. Leav- 
ing Norway in 1903 in the sloop Gjoa, 46 tons, they pro- 
ceeded via Lancaster and Peel Sounds to winter quarters 
in 68° 38' n., 90 w., near North Somerset. Magnetic 
observations were made at Leopold Harbor in 1904, and 
later, on King William Land, in order to locate the 
north magnetic pole of deviation. Old known graves of 
Franklin's expedition were found on King William Land. 
The subsequent voyage of Gjoa was through the channels 
traversed by Collinson (p. 150), reaching King Point 
69 10' n., 13 7 45' w., in August 1905. This is the 
first instance of the northwest passage being made in a 
ship, that of M'Clure (p. 147) being in part by sledge. 
This wonderful success illustrates the possibilities of small 
steam vessels for Arctic navigation. The changed condi- 
tion of late years is shown by Amundsen meeting 12 
American whalers, six wintering east of Herschel Island. 



North- Polar Voyages 173 

D r Nansen, distinguished by his crossing of Greenland 
(Chapter XVII), initiated in 1893 a novel and most 
dangerous plan. Ignoring the accepted canons of ice- 
navigation, of avoiding besetment and following the pro- 
tected lee of land- masses, he planned a continuance of 
the Jeannette drift (Chapter XIII), by placing his ship 
in the great ice-pack near the New Siberian Islands. 
Basing his operations on scientific data, such as the pres- 
ence of Siberian diatoms on the Greenland coast, he 
anticipated that his ship would drift across the pole. 

Nansen passed safely into Kara Sea- in 1895, w i tn a 
specially constructed ship, the Fram, Captain Sverdrup, 
and began his dangerous experiment of Arctic exploration 
by utilizing the force and movement of the dreaded ice- 
pack. However much such method may be yet questioned, 
on account of contingent dangers, the story of its initial 
success is of engrossing interest. Favored by an unusually 
open season, the Fram passed nearly 100 miles farther 
north than her predecessor, the Jeannette (p. 191), ever 
reached, and, 25th September 1893, was frozen in to the 
northwest of Sannikof Land in 7 8° 50' n., i34°e. The 
Fram, with her crew of thirteen, experienced a monoto- 
nous drift, save on a few occasions, the ice-pack moving 
largely through the action of the wind. A notable episode 
was the fearful ice-pressures of 5th January 1895, when 
the destruction of the ship by overrunning and advanc- 
ing ice was so imminent that preparations were made 
for her abandonment. During the 35 months of the 
Fram's besetment no land rose out of the surrounding 
desolate polar expanse, and only a few Arctic birds and 
animals relieved the monotony of ice and snow. The 
drift, while zigzag, as shown on the map (p. 211), was in 
the main, until October 1895, to the west-northwest to 
its highest point, 85 57' n., 6o° e., whence it changed to 



174 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

a south-southwest direction, to 84 09' n., 15 e., where 
the ship was nearly stationary from February to June 
1S96. Fortunately for the brave crew, the sea was unusu- 
ally open in 1S96, when a tourist steamer, Erling Jarl t 
reached 8i° $S' n., a higher latitude than any ship had 
ever attained prior to 1868. By judicious use of explo- 
sives and by skilful ice-navigation, Captain Sverdrup 
brought the Fram into the open sea north of Spitzbergen, 
13th August 1896. 

If the life and experiences of Captain Sverdrup and his 
companions in the ship were, as a rule, monotonous and 
dreary, such cannot be said of the fortunes of D r Nansen 
and Lieutenant Johansen, who, after two attempts, finally 
left the Fram, then in 84 04' N., 102 e., on 14th March 
1895. Their avowed intention was to penetrate as far 
northward as possible, and then, without attempting to 
rejoin the Fram, to return to Norway via Franz Josef Land 
and Spitzbergen. The extreme hazard of such a journey 
is realized only by men of Arctic experiences, but its perils 
became obvious to these bold men as they encountered 
imminent dangers that made their journey and experiences 
among the most extraordinary in polar annals. They 
took three sledges, 28 dogs, two kayaks (skin-boats) ; the 
men were provisioned for 100 and the dogs for 30 days. 
Nansen calculated that he could reach the North Pole 
in 50 days, — a not unreasonable supposition, as he was 
better equipped with dogs than any one of his predeces- 
sors. But, as Arctic chances often have determined, 
the ice-conditions were so unfavorable that on 7th April 
1895, he found himself in 86° 05' n., 93 w., 8 miles 
farther north than the Fram reached. He had made 
good 121 geographical miles of latitude from the Fram, 
but was yet 235 geographical miles short of the Pole. 
Twenty-three of the 50 days had passed, and Nansen, 



North-Polar Voyages 175 

having made an unexampled high latitude, and ' the ice 
having been (found) impassable/ wisely determined to 
turn southward, where his calculated 100 days were to 
stretch out to 153 days before he set foot on the shores 
of Franz Josef Land. This journey illustrates forcibly 
the courage, confidence, ability, and self-helpfulness of 
the two men. Food failed for the dogs, which were 
gradually killed and fed to their companions until only 
two remained. Violent gales, thick fogs, and a dis- 
rupted pack retarded travel and made progress almost 
impossible. Johansen, struck down on the march by a 
bear, narrowly escaped death. Nansen was attacked with 
rheumatism that disabled him for two days, which, if long 
continued, would have cost their lives. Their watches 
ran down, making their longitude uncertain, and the 
long-hoped-for land, day by day, remained below the 
horizon. Meanwhile the food of the men neared its 
end, and sea game was unattainable. When things were 
at their worst, Johansen fortunately shot a seal, and an 
isolated (Eva) island greeted their vision. On 14th August 
1895, by alternate use of sledge and kayak, they reached 
land, and, it being too late to justify an attempt to reach 
Spitzbergen, they selected a suitable place for winter 
quarters about 8i° 12' n., 53 e., where they constructed 
a stone hut. Bears were so plentiful as not only to furnish 
abundant food but also to be a menace to safety. 

With the opening spring of 1896 every possible arrange- 
ment was made for a journey to Spitzbergen, and on 19th 
May they started. Matters went badly. Nansen was 
nearly drowned by falling through the soft floe. On 12th 
June their kayaks drifted away, and were only recovered 
through the almost superhuman efforts of Nansen in the 
icy ocean. Two days later their meat was entirely gone, 
and the day following a walrus injured Nansen's kayak, 



176 Handbook of Aye tic Discoveries 

and nearly destroyed their chances of life. But the dan- 
gers and privations of these brave men were speedily 
ended, for on 17th June, near Cape Flora, they met 
Jackson, who welcomed them most heartily. 

The geographical discoveries of Nansen are directly 
confined to Sverdrup Island in Kara Sea and the charting 
of numerous unvisited islands along the Siberian coast east 
of Cape Chelyuskin. The track of the Fram also makes 
it certain that Sannikof Land, one of the New Siberian 
Islands, cannot extend far to the northwest. The natural 
history observations show the extension of animal and bird 
life to very high latitudes ; but the fauna is almost entirely 
marine, thus making it quite certain that there are no 
extensive lands immediately to the north of the drift of 
the Fram. The most important discovery is that of the 
extension of the great Spitzbergen ' deep ' throughout the 
Polar Sea eastward to the New Siberian Islands. Mark- 
ham, Murray, and Greely believed in a deep sea to the 
north of Franz Josef Land, and the tidal observations and 
soundings (150 fathoms and no bottom) of the Greely 
expedition in the Polar Sea north of Greenland made it 
likewise certain that this ' deep ' passed around the new 
land discovered by that expedition. It is not known, how- 
ever, that any one regarded the Siberian Arctic Ocean as 
more than a shallow sea. The soundings of the Fram 
show it to be of enormous depth from longitude 140 e., 
across the Polar Basin to io° e., thus connecting it with 
the known deep sea. The deep-sea temperatures of Leigh 
Smith in very high latitudes are now supplemented by 
those of Nansen in a still higher one, and the latter, as 
D r John Murray has shown, confirm pre-existent theories. 
The magnetic observations should be of the highest value. 
The meteorological observations will be of interest, but 
cannot, from the nature of things, be considered as afford- 



North- Polar Voyages ijj 

ing reliable means of temperature, pressure, or wind. The 
assumption that no extensive land exists near the Pole 
cannot be safely drawn from this voyage,. The Fram met 
with no tabular icebergs, and from longitude 6o° e., the 
drift was southwestward. D r Carpenter has shown that 
an extensive land is necessary for tabular icebergs, which 
to the thickness of many hundred feet prevail in the west- 
ern Polar Basin. Nansen has destroyed the last chance 
of Petermann's continuous land to the northward of Franz 
Josef Land, which few geographers have believed in. In 
pushing back the birthplace of paleocrystic ice far Pole- 
ward, the results of the voyage of the Fram tend to 
strengthen the hypothesis advanced by Greely that the 
ice-clad land which produces such ice lies between the 
sea west of Parry archipelago and the North Pole. 

The most successful of North-polar quests is that of the 
Duke of the Abruzzi, Prince Luigi Amadeo, of Savoy- Aosta, 
who made his base of operations at Teplitz Bay, as stated 
in connection with explorations of Franz Josef Land. 

Injuries by frost obliged the Duke to entrust the field 
work tp Captain Umberto Cagni. An effort in February 
was abandoned after several days' sledging in extreme 
cold, — 68°. 

On nth March 1901, Cagni started with 12 sledges, 
10 men, and 98 dogs, expecting to send back the first 
detachment in 24 days, the second after 48 days, and to 
advance himself for 72 days. Field conditions were ad- 
verse, though the weather was good and temperatures 
not extremely low for the season. There was trouble with 
sledges ; daylight for travel was short ; new ice was so 
dangerous as to necessitate careful travel ; soft, deep snow 
was occasionally encountered ; and pressure-ridges were 
so rough that paths had to be cut. 

In 11 days, an average of only eight miles having 



178 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

been made, Cagni sent back those weakest and least resist- 
ant to cold, Lieutenant Querini and two men. They were 
allowed to select their sledge, and provided with 10 dogs, 
rations for 10 days, medicines, instruments, and camp 
equipments. The road was clear, and Rudolf Island had 
been seen the day previous. They departed cheerfully, but 
were never again seen, and repeated search disclosed no 
trace of them. 

Of his advance Cagni says : ' A very fatiguing day 
[23d March] ; we had continually to carry the sledges over 
ridges. We crossed a belt 23^ miles, raised 12 or 15 feet 
above the ice-pack, composed of blocks, pinnacles, and hol- 
lows. The snow, in which we often sank up to the waist, 
was another obstacle.' 

The second detachment, under D r Cavalli, turned 
back from 83° 10' n.. 28 days earlier than planned; pro- 
vided with rations for 18 days and with 20 dogs. The 
party reached Teplitz Bay safely. 

Cagni advanced with three men, suffering tortures from 
a badly frozen finger, which he later had himself to ampu- 
tate in part with scissors. Favored by fine weather and 
improved ice-conditions, they reached, on 25th April 1901, 
86° 34' n., 65 20' e., when prudence demanded their 
return. The observed magnetic variation was zero ; no 
land was visible, only an unbroken expanse of rough 
ice. 

Cagni thus accomplished the highest north, exceeding 
the latitude of Nansen by 29 miles, acquiring for Italy the 
honor which had been held in order by England, America, 
and Norway. 

The absence of paleocrystic ice in the vicinity of the 
85th parallel, between 20' f. and 90' e., noted by N.\ 
Sverdrup, and Cagni, strongly indicates, as was advanced 
years since, that the glacier-covered land from which such 



North-Polar Voyages 179 

ice-islands are detached, must be in the polar area of the 
western hemisphere. 

Cagni's return journey covered 60 days, against 45 days 
outward. It was lengthened and made most hazardous 
by the southwest drift of the ice-pack, which despite every 
effort carried the party 12th May to longitude 48 40' e. 

1 8th May, Cagnt wrote : 'I feel more and more every 
day a terrible anxiety with regard to our fate. After 
marching nine days toward the southeast, we are nearly 
on the same meridian.' By incredible exertions, lasting 
for four weeks over a steadily disintegrating and moving 
pack, the party reached, 13th June, Harley Island, the 
most westerly on that parallel, and were saved. 

Most authorities accept the opinion of the Duke of the 
Abruzzi, that this journey practically closes the Franz 
Josef route for polar research, as the probable results 
would scarcely be commensurate with the necessary ex- 
penditures of effort and money. 

The nearest approach to the North Pole in the west- 
ern hemisphere is that made by Peary in his four years' 
expedition via Smith Sound, 1898-1902. His ship, the 
Windward, unable to force its way into Kennedy Chan- 
nel, wintered at Cape D'Urville. In September of that 
autumn Peary determined the continuity of Ellesmere 
and Grinnell Lands. Through the utilization of the Etah 
Eskimo he planned to make Fort Conger his base for 
polar work. Adopting the unprecedented and dangerous 
policy of winter sledging, his trip to Conger in December 
badly crippled him and nearly cost his life, his feet being 
very badly frozen. Eight toes were amputated 13th 
March on his return to the Windward, yet he took the 
field in a few weeks. In July, crossing Ellesmere Land 
and passing over inland-ice at an elevation of 7,000 feet, 
he discovered a fiord (Cannon Bay) running 50 miles to 



l8o Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

the northwest, with the north shore of Greely Fiord in the 
background, and probably Heiberg Land. 

The Windward returning to the United States, Pf.aky 
wintered (1899-1900) at Etah, from which he made his 
first northern effort. Leaving Etah in March, he started 
from Fort Conger nth April, taking the Greenland trail of 
Lockwood and Brainard. 8th May, Peary passed Lock- 
wood's farthest, 83° 24' n., and reached the most northern 
land in about 83 35' n. Striking northward over the 
polar pack, Peary found ' frightful going, fragments of 
old floes, ridges of heavy ice thrown up to heights of 25 
to 50 feet, crevasses and holes masked by snow, the whole 
intersected by narrow leads of open water.' 

Finding that the pack was disintegrated, he turned back 
in May 1900, from 83 54' n., nothing but ice being visi- 
ble to the north from the summit of a fioeberg 50 feet 
high. Following the coast of Hazen Land southeast to 
82°45' n., 24 w., he turned back about 125 miles from 
Independence Bay. 

Though the North Pole was not reached, yet the north- 
ern end of the Greenland archipelago had been rounded 
and its eastern coast determined to Cape Independence. 

It is extremely interesting to learn that this northern- 
most land of the world is replete with animal and vegetable 
life. Bears, wolves, hares, and musk-oxen make it their 
habitat. Of the extreme northeastern coast Peary 
says : ' It is inhabited by a fauna practically the same as 
that of other Arctic lands several hundred miles further 
south.' 

The discoveries of Peary and Sverdrup (Chapter XIV) 
confirm the opinion advanced by Greely, that the Eskimo, 
musk-ox, and wolf have reached east Greenland from the 
Parry Archipelago via Greely Fiord, Lake Ha/.en, and the 
ice-free regions of extreme northern Greenland. Traces 



North-Polar Voyages 181 

of Eskimo life cover the greater part of the route, and 
Peary believes that summer would disclose others. 

Returning south, Peary fixed his winter quarters at Fort 
Conger and attempted the Cape Hecla route in 1901, 
but the northern advance in April was abandoned at 
Lincoln Bay. His base was transferred the next winter 
to Payer Harbor, where six Eskimo died. 

Peary was not dismayed, and starting in February 
1902, by 12 wonderful marches reached Conger. Leav- 
ing, 24th February 1902, with nine sledges, he was storm- 
bound a day at Lincoln Bay. In rounding Cape Henry 
he struck the worst ice-foot he ever encountered. By 
the slipping of a sledge two men nearly lost their lives, 
they dangling over the crest of an ice-pack precipice 
some 50 feet in height. The sledges had to pass a shelf 
of ice less than a yard wide, with the precipitous face 
of a cliff on one side, and on the other sea-floes 75 feet 
below. 

Peary, having already travelled 400 miles in a month, 
with temperature ranging from — 38 to — 57 , left Cape 
Hecla, 6th April, with seven men and six dog sledges. The 
disintegrating polar-pack was constantly shifting, while its 
alternations of rubble, open water, young ice, and pressure- 
ridges made travel slow and arduous in the extreme. 

Strong gales not only kept them storm-bound but still 
further broke up the pack. Leads became frequent and 
wider, old floes broke up, and the moving ice-pack, crush- 
ing together with a sound of heavy surf, made the situa- 
tion most dangerous. One lead was closed up by a huge 
pressure-ridge about 90 feet high. At the farthest, obser- 
vations gave 84 17' n., 70 w. ; magnetic variation, 99 w. 

This notable northing, made from a base 300 miles 
south of the Alert, over Markham's route, exceeded his 
latitude by 57 miles. Peary surpassed the northing of 



1 82 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

Lockwood on Hazen Land by 53 miles, and so attained 
the highest latitude reached in the western hemisphere. 

With a persistence unsurpassed in Arctic annals, Peary 
has renewed his North-polar quest. Sailing in 1904 in 
the Roosevelt, he contemplates establishing his base of 
travel at Cape Hecla. Starting either in 1906 or 1907, 
he believes that by improved equipment, with selected 
dogs and Eskimo, he can travel the 900 miles to the 
North Pole and return between February and June, he 
having made four Arctic journeys of greater length in less 
time. It is recognized that success depends largely on 
the continuity and smoothness of the polar pack. 

The table (page 185) shows that England held the 
honors of the farthest north through Hudson, 1607 ; 
Phipps, 1773 ; Parry, 1827 ; Nares, (by Aldrich on land) 
1875, and (by Markham on sea) 1S76. This record, 
unbroken for 275 years, passed to the United States by 
the International Polar Expedition commanded by Greely, 
Lockwood, and Brainard, reaching S3 24' n. on land 
and sea. Nansen gained the honor in 1S95, 86° 05' N. 
on the ocean, to yield it to Abruzzi, whose assistant Cagni 
reached 86° 34' n., in 1902, the highest of to-day. 
Greely's record of land was exceeded 16 miles by Peary 
in 1900, who yet holds that record. 

The most daring of all schemes of polar exploration is 
that urged and undertaken by S. A. Andree, of Sweden. 
A member of the Swedish International Polar Expedition 
of 1882-83, and an aeronaut of some experience, Andree 
succeeded in commanding for his plan the active support 
of Oscar, King of Sweden, M r Alfred Nobel, and Baron 
Oscar Dickson. In 1896 his party passed several weeks 
at Danes Island, Spitzbergen, where they erected a bal- 
loon-house and failed to start, owing only to adverse winds. 
Observations of the escaping gas showed quite conclusively 



North- Polar Voyages 183 

that the flotation-life of the balloon had been overesti- 
mated. On his return Andree had the balloon enlarged 
and improved, so that its impermeability and flotative 
powers were increased. With the gunboat Svensksund 
and tender Virgo, Andree revisited Danes Island in June 
1897. The balloon-house had withstood the winter 
storms, and after the installation of the balloon, all pos- 
sible means were adopted to reduce to a minimum its 
daily loss of gas by permeation through the envelope. 
The plan looked to the flotation of the balloon some 800 
feet above the sea by means of three attached heavy guide 
ropes, each 900 feet long, to which in turn were fastened 
eight ballast-lines, 250 feet long, with which it was ex- 
pected by shifting the position of the guide-ropes to 
change the direction of the balloon. On 6th July a vio- 
lent gale barely escaped wrecking both house and balloon. 
Finally on nth July the wind was favorable in strength 
and direction, and everything was ready. The balloon, 
named Omen (The Eagle), had its load of about five tons 
of food, ballast, freight, and men, and from measurements 
of escaping gas had a flotation-life of about 30 days. 

Accompanying Andree were M r Strindberg and M r 
Fraenkel. At 2.30 p. m. the lines were cut and the 
balloon ascended about 600 feet. Suddenly it descended 
to the surface of the sea, possibly owing to an entangle- 
ment of the guide-ropes, and then rose again as the ropes 
were cut or broken and ballast thrown out. The wind 
carried the balloon across the mountainous island of 
Vogelsang, making it necessary to rise to some 1,500 feet, 
whence it passed out of sight in an hour below the north- 
northeast horizon. As the balloon had at its best a 
flotation-life of 30 days, it is obvious that the report is 
erroneous of its appearance in Siberia 65 days later. 

Three message-buoys have been found, all dropped by 



184 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

Andree on July 11, the date of his departure, which 
furnish brief news of the course of the daring aeronaut. 
The latest was dated 10 p. M., at which time the balloon 
was in 82 N., 25 E. All were well, the weather fine, 
the balloon at 820 feet altitude, the direction towards 
n. 45 e., and the ice-field below rugged. Beyond these 
buoys there have been found no traces despite repeated 
search in various Arctic regions. 



Phipps : Voyage towards North Pole (London 1774); 
Parry : Attempt to reach the North Pole in Boats (London 
1828) ; Beechey : Voyage towards North Pole (London 
1843); Markham : Great Erosen Sea (London 1S78); 
Leslie: Nordenskiolds Arctic Voyages (London 1879); 
Koldewey : Second German North-Polar Expedition 
(London 1874) ; Smith : Tyson's Arctic Experiences (New 
York 1874); Davis: I/all's North- Polar Expedition 
(Washington 1876) ; Nansen : Voyage of the From, 2 v. 
(New York 1898); Abruzzi : On the Polar Star, 2 v. 
(London 1903). For Peary see Bull. A/ner. Geogr. 
Soc, v. 35 (New York 1903). 



North-Polar Voyages 



185 



Records of the Highest North made since 1587 (in the 
Eastern and Western Hemispheres, by land and by sea) 



EASTERN HEMISPHERE 



Commander 



William Barents . . 

Ryp & Heemskerck . 
(Barents' 3d Voyage) 
Henry Hudson . . . 
J. C. Phipps .... 
William Scoresby 
W. E. Parry .... 
nordenskiold & otter 

Weyprecht & Payer 



F. Nansen .... 
Duke of the Abruzzi 



Date 



14th July 1594 

19th June 1596 

13th July 1607 
27th July 1773 
24th May 1806 
23d July 1827 
19th Sept. 186S 

12th April 1874 



7th April 1895 
25th April 1901 



N. Lat. 


Long. 


77 20' 


62 E. 


79 49 


12 E. 


80 23 

80 48 

81 30 

82 45 
81 42 


10 E. 
20 E. 

19 E. 

20 E. 
18 E. 


82 05 


60 E. 


86 05 
86 34 


100 E. 
65 E. 



Near Cape Nas- 
sau, N. Z. 
N. Spitzbergen 

Spitzbergen Sea 



Spitzbergen Sea, 

highest by ship 
Franz Josef Land 

by Payer, high 

est land 
Polar Ocean 
By Cagni on 

Polar Ocean 



WESTERN HEMISPHERE 



Commander 


Date 


N. Lat. 


Long. 


Locality 


John Davis .... 


30th June 1587 


72° 


12' 


S6 C 


W. 


W. Greenland 


Henry Hudson . . . 


20th June 1607 


73 




20 


W. 


Off E. Greenland 


William Baffin . . 


4th July 1616 


77 


45 


72 


w. 


Smith Sound 


E. A. Inglefield . . 


27th Aug. 1S52 


78 


28 


74 


w. 


Smith Sound 


E. K. Kane .... 


24th June 1854 


89 


10 


67 


w. 


Cape Constitu- 
tion, Greenland, 
by Morton 


I. I. Hayes .... 


19th May 1861 


80 


11 


70 


w. 


Grinnell Land 


C. F. Hall .... 


30th Aug. 1870 


82 


11 


61 


w. 


Frozen Sea 


C. F. Hall .... 


30th June 1871 


&2 


07 


59 


vv. 


Greenland, by 
Sergeant F. 
Meyer, Signal 
Corps, U. S. A. 


G. S. Nares .... 


25th Sept. 1875 


82 


48 


65 


vv. 


Grinnell Land, 
by Aldrich 


G. S. Nares .... 


12th May 1876 


83 


20 


65 


w. 


Frozen Sea, by 
A. H. Mark- 
ham 


A. W. Greely . . . 


13th May 1882 


83 


24 


41 


W. 


New Land, north 
of Greenland, 
by Lockwood 
& Brainard 




May 1900 


83 


54 


3° 


vv. 


Polar Ocean, N. 
of Hazen Land 




May 1902 


84 


17 


70 


w. 


Polar Ocean 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE ISLANDS OF THE SIBERIAN OCEAN 

BETWEEN Bering Strait and the Kara Sea the shal- 
low Siberian Ocean is dotted with scattered islands ; 
the most important of these, commonly known as Liachof 
or New Siberian Islands, are situated to the northeast of 
the Lena Delta. The most southerly island, Liachof, had 
been seen by traders coasting from the Lena to the Indi- 
girka, but it was never visited until 1770, and then by a 
Russian trader, Liachof. 

His journey was inspired by the sight of an immense 
herd of deer coming south from the ice-clad sea. Follow- 
ing their tracks by dog-sledge in April 1 7 70, he reached 
in a day an island (Liachof) and the following day another 
(Maloi), 60 miles from the continent. Obtaining exclu- 
sive right of exploiting the land he had explored, Liachof 
visited the islands by boat in 1773, wintered on Liachof, 
and discovered a third (Kotelnoi) island, on which were 
tusks of the mammoth. The discovery of mammoth bones 
in 1750 by Lerchon on the Siberian tundra initiated a 
profitable industry which now extended to these islands. 

The scientific and material importance of these deposits 
led the Russian government to send CHVOINOF to survey 
these islands, and obtain information regarding their re- 
markable natural conditions. His reports showed that 
save a few granitic hills the soil of Liachof was a mixture 



The Islands of the Siberian Ocean 187 

of ice, sand, and ivory, the last being remains of the mam- 
moth, fossil ox. rhinoceros, and other animals. Among 
other remarkable conditions was that' of ice overgrown by 
moss to a considerable depth. From a high mountain on 
Kotelnoi Chvoinof saw in May a mountainous land to 
the north, doubtless De Long Islands. Driftwood was 
abundant, ivory plentiful, foxes and other valuable fur- 
bearing animals very numerous. 

At the beginning of this century other islands were dis- 
covered by hunters, — Stolbovvoi and Fadejef, or Thad- 
deus, in 1805 by Samkif, Nova Sibir the following year by 
Sirovatskof, while Bjeflkof added in 1808 the small 
islet of his name. 

To the fortunate complications regarding hunting-rights 
are due the descriptions of Hedenstrom, so important to 
scientists. Sent by and at the expense of Chancellor 
Nicholas Romanzof to survey the islands, Hedenstrom 
left Ustjansk 7th March 1809, with Sannikof and Koshevin 
as assistants, and travelling by sledge reached Thaddeus 
via Liachof. He continued on to New Siberia Island, 
while the two others surveyed Thaddeus and Kotelnoi. 
In 1809, with Sannikof, he again visited Nova Sibir, which 
was reached with 29 sledges, 13th March. On this island 
was found an axe made of a mammoth tusk, and on Thad- 
deus a Jukahir sledge and skinning knife, which indicate 
that these natives had once lived on these islands, at a 
remote period before iron was obtainable from the Rus- 
sians. On the south coast of Nova Sibir were discovered 
the remarkable Wood Hills, 200 feet high, consisting of 
alternate strata of sandstone and bituminous tree-remains. 
The wood was friable, black, glossy, and at times like fos- 
silized charcoal. Hedenstrom verified the almost incred- 
ible statement of Liachof that the whole soil of Liachof 
Island appears to consist of mammoth bones. In any 



1 88 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

event the large cargoes brought annually for So years had 
not sensibly diminished the supply. 

In 1810, Hedenstrom, leaving the mouth of the Indi- 
girka, reached Nova Sibir in eleven days, and thence 
attempted to reach very high land (De Long Islands) to 
the northeast ; but after four days' travel met with open 
water which extended southeast to Bear Islands, some 350 
miles. The mainland was reached after 43 days of diffi- 
cult travelling, the party being saved from starvation only 
by killing eleven polar bears. Meanwhile Sannikof had 
returned to Kotelnoi, where he passed the summer with 
fur and mammoth hunters, and found mammoth and other 
bones in enormous numbers. Surveying the west coast, 
he found the cross-marked grave of a Russian hunter, a 
wooden house partly furnished, and a wrecked vessel. It 
seems probable that by stress of ice and weather some 
Archangel hunters had involuntarily made the first voyage 
around Cape Chelyuskin, and, wrecked on this shore, sealed 
their discoveries with their lives. Other surveys in 181 1, 
by Sannikof and Pschenizyn, had no important additional 
results, but from Thaddeus Sannikof saw an island (Ben- 
nett) which he could not reach, owing to open water. 

It is useless to here detail the remarkable journeys made 
by Lieutenants F. von Wrangell and P. F. Anjou, in the 
years 1820-23, on the Siberian Sea. They are full of 
interest for any reader fond of adventure, but their mate- 
rial outcome was scanty. The New Siberian and Bear 
Islands were skirted, and every effort under most daring and 
trying conditions was made to discover land to the east, 
west, and north. The farthest point reached was in 1823 by 
Anjou, about 76 36' n., 138 w., north of Kotelnoi, where 
the sea was only 1 7 fathoms deep : here Anjou saw no 
sign of the reported and sought-for land of Sannikof, 
181 1. Extended travel in any direction was impossible 



The Islands of the Siberian Ocean 189 

on account of open water or unsafe ice, and the excessive 
roughness of the sea-ice exceeded anything previously 
experienced, — ice-conditions that are now known to 
rule on any large water-area subject to high winds or 
strong currents. Wrangell thoroughly explored Bear 
Islands, and sought to discover beyond them the land 
which Andrejev claimed to have seen to the northeast 
in 1763, and which other explorers had endeavored to 
find in vain, — since none such exists. 

Captain Kellett discovered, 17th August 1849, the 
first island to the north of Bering Strait, in 71 18' N., 
1 75 24' w., named after his ship Herald. Kellett landed 
with great difficulty, and describes it as granitic rocks, 
almost perpendicular and nearly inaccessible. In 1855, 
Commander John Rodgers, U. S. S. Vincennes, entered 
the Arctic Ocean to visit the land ' in about 72 n., i 75 ° w., 
as placed on the Admiralty charts from the report of 
H. B. M. S. Herald' Rodgers traversed Kellett's Plover 
Land, anchoring, nth August, in 72 05' n., 174 37' w., 
whence a clear view of 30 miles in all quarters showed no 
land. Later he landed on Herald Island, which has since 
been visited by Hooper, Corwin, in July, and Berry, 
Rodgers, in September, 1881. Owing to fog, Rodgers 
failed to see Wrangell Land, a few miles distant from his 
track, but he attained 72 05' n., 174 37' w., the highest 
latitude then attained by sailing ship, and reaching 176 e., 
surpassed the farthest of the famous Cook. 

The greatest interest and importance attaches to Wran- 
gell Land, which for over a century was believed in, on 
the strength of Chutchee reports. It is probable that the 
visits of these natives to the American continent led to a 
belief in the. existence of land north of Cape Jakan, which 
Wrangell vainly looked for in clear water from Baranof 
Rock, 69 42' n., 176 32' w., 8th April 1824. Peter- 



I go Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

mann, the great geographer, believed that Wrangell Land 
extended from the neighborhood of Asia across the Pole 
to Greenland ; and as late as 1881, Nordenskiold thought 
it possible that the land might connect with the archipelago 
to the north of America. The discovery of Wrangell Land 
is due to an American whaler, Thomas Long, who sailed 
along its south shore in the Niles, I4~i6th August 1867, 
when he placed its western extremity in 70 46' N., 
178 30' e., and its southeastern cape in 70 40' N., 
178 51'w. Captains Ravnor, whaler Reindeer, Philips, 
Monticello, and Bliven, Nautilus, also visited it the same 
year. Although Bliven made its latitude too high, his 
reports of its east coast tended to confirm the belief that 
it was an extensive land. 

The credit of exploding the theory of a continent be- 
longs to Commander G. W. De Long, LT. S. Navy, who 
sailed in 1879 on a voyage of exploration via Bering 
Strait in the Jeannette. De Long thought Wrangell Land 
continental, and boldly entered the pack near Herald 
Island, in 71 35' n., 175 w., expecting to reach and 
winter at Wrangell Land. To De Long's dismay the vessel 
never escaped the pack, and, drifting almost steadily to 
the westward, passed in sight of and to the north of Wran- 
gell Land, which thus shrank from its assumed continental 
proportions to that of a small island. Winter came and 
went • the injured Jeannette barely escaped shipwreck from 
convulsions of the ice-pack, and only avoided foundering 
through the energy and skill of G. W. Melville, its chief 
engineer. Another year passed without material change 
in their condition, save that Melville landed, at risk of his 
life, 3d June 1881, on a newly discovered (Jeannette) 
island, in 7 6° 47' N., 159 e. It was a barren, rocky, ice- 
capped islet, with a few dovekies nesting in its cliffs. 
Another island, Henrietta, in 77 08' n., 15 8° e., relieved 



The Islands of the Siberian Ocean 191 

the monotony until the crushing of the Jeanne 'tte, 12 th 
June 1 88 1, in 77 15' n., 155 ° e., left her crew shelter- 
less on the ice-floes, in mid-ocean. 

Lieutenant Danenhower had long been disabled, Lieu- 
tenant Chipp and three men were sick, and under these 
conditions De Long retreated south to the New Siberian 
Islands, 150 miles distant. In this fearful journey Mel- 
ville was full of energy and expedients. Their five boats 
and nine sledges scarcely carried their 60 days' provisions, 
which their enfeebled men could not drag in a single load. 
Added to their misfortunes was a northerly drift that car- 
ried them 28 miles to 77 36' n., 155 e., the most north- 
erly point ever reached in that sea. An (Bennett) island, 
76 38' n., 148 e., was soon seen, and landing on it the 
shipwrecked men rested nine days, exploring 1 7 miles of 
the south coast, and obtaining needed supplies of fresh 
food, the cliffs being alive with birds. Starting 8th 
August, they landed eleven days later on Thaddeus (Fade- 
jef), one of the New Siberian Islands. In attempting to 
reach the Lena Delta, Chipp's boat, with a crew of eight 
men, foundered in a storm, 12 th September, when De Long 
and' Melville were separated. Melville, with nine men, 
reached, 26th September, a Russian village, Geeomovia- 
locke, through one of the eastern mouths of the Lena. 

De Long, with D r Ambler and twelve men, landed, 1 7th 
September, in 73 25' n., 126 30' e., being obliged to aban- 
don his boat owing to shallow water. Armed, loaded with 
records, food, and other materials, they followed south the 
barren shores of the Lena, retarded by snow, young ice 
and disabled men. Delayed till ice could form over un- 
fordable tributaries, game and food failed, 9th October, 
when one man was dead and others were helpless. Hold- 
ing fast with Ambler to the sick and dying men, De Long 
sent two seamen to follow up the Lena in search of relief. 



192 Hafidbook of Arctic Discoveries 

De Long and all but three with him died of starvation 
before ist November, while the two seamen reached 
Bulun 29th October, after almost perishing. At the 
earliest practicable moment, Melville pushed relief meas- 
ures so energetically that he found, 14th November 1881, 
the ship's books, when a violent storm prevented farther 
action. With earliest spring the untiring Melville was 
in the field, and, 23d March 1882, found the bodies of his 
unfortunate shipmates. 

Apart from valuable physical observations in an un- 
known region, the geographic results of this expedition 
were extensive and important. They covered some 
50,000 square miles of polar ocean, and clearly indicate 
the conditions of an equal area between their line of drift 
and the Asiatic coast. De Long proved that the Siberian 
Ocean is a shallow sea, dotted with islands, and the dis- 
covery of the De Long group confirmed the reports of 
land by Sannikof, 181 1. The land seen by Chipp during 
De Long's retreat is probably an outlying island of the 
group. 

Captain C. L. Hooper, U. S. Revenue Marine Concin, 
saw Wrangell Land, 10th September 1880; and in 1881, 
after visiting Herald Island, in 71 04' n., 177 40' w., 
landed and explored, with D r I. C. Rosse, Wrangell Island, 
12th August. A month later, Berry, in the Rodgers, 
searching for De Long, landing in 70 57' n., 178 10' \\\, 
thoroughly explored and mapped the island, which is 
some 70 miles east and west by 35 broad, with its north- 
ernmost point in 71 32' n. 

The geographic work in connection with the islands of 
the Siberian Ocean was fittingly renewed by a most valu- 
able scientific expedition under the auspices of the Im- 
perial Russian Geographical Society, in charge of D r A. 
Bunge and Baron E. von Toll. The year 1885 was passed 



The Islands of the Siberian Ocean 193 

in Jana Land, where most valuable observations and col- 
lections were made. Here, in April, 1886, at Bor-Urjak, 
70 03' n., on the Dodomo, was found the skeleton of a 
mammoth covered with moss and other vegetation, the 
bones mixed with birds' feathers, grass yet green, and 
other interesting surroundings. 

Provided with means for a^summer's stay on the islands, 
Toll and Bunge, with eight men, reached Great Liachof 
Island, where the latter remained for scientific work. Toll 
made Kotelnoi his main field-work, but in a journey of 
23 days visited Nova Sibir, and later other islands. He 
traversed the entire coasts of Kotelnoi in 40 days, and 
was fortunate enough in August to see Sannikof Land 
(181 1), from high land on the northwest of Kotelnoi. 
Toll says there were distinctly visible four lofty moun- 
tains, extending along the horizon from 14 to 18 degrees 
west of north, which were united by a foreground of lower 
land. While he could not see the land (Henrietta Island) 
of Sannikof from Nova Sibir, he thought it might be due 
to unfavorable atmospheric conditions. 

Bunge "meanwhile explored Great Liachof, where the 
upper layers of clay, above the mixed mud and ice, fur- 
nished immense quantities of fossils. In addition to the 
well-known remains of the mammoth, musk-ox, and rhi- 
noceros, were bones of deer, horses, and two new species 
of ox. Toll states that the mammoths were always found 
in masses of mud and clay pressed into broad fissures of 
the underlying ground-ice, which forms the base of the 
low part of the islands. The destruction of the rich 
fauna at the edge of the ice-masses of the glacial period 
is attributed to the gradual sinking of the coasts, thus re- 
stricting gradually the land area that furnished nutrition. 

The contributions made by this expedition are especially 
valuable to geology, meteorology, botany, and paleontology. 
'3 



194 Handbook of Antic Dis 

in 1893 the indefatigable Baron Toi 1 set forth on a 
paleontological voyage to Bearch to the northeast of the 
Jana for a well preserved mammoth. Afterward with 
Lieutenant Shileiko he visited the New Siberian tslai 
and reaching by dog sledges 75". 57' v, on the w< 
of Kotelnoi, established two provision depots foi N in i 
possible use. Id addition to valuable physical observa 
tionsand rich collections, Tou found evidence that in the 
mammoth period trees grew in 74 n., fully three degp 
of latitude beyond their present limit. Geologically this 
voyage is most important. Returning to the mainland, 
TOLL crossed with reindeer the reported impassable 
tundras from Sviatoi Noss to Dudinka on the Lena, and 
following up thai river reached Yenisei l. 4th Deceml 
Toll, continuing his geological researches, reports rinding 
on Great Liachof Island frozen carcasses of rhinoceros and 
ovibos, remains of antelopes, American stags, mammoths, 
and even a tiger. In the famous wood mountain, among 

other species there was a complete Her {Alnus /nificosn), 

90 feet long, with roots, leaves, and fruit. 
To supplement our geological knowledge, especially as 

tO the tertiary deposits on Bennet and other islands, and 

to explore Sannikof Land, seen by him in r886,Tou made 
his fatal expedition in the Zarya. Wintering, 1900-1901, 

in 76 08' n., 95° ,.:., he explored Nordenskiold Islands 
and parts of the north Taimyr peninsula. His efforts to 

attain Sannikof hand in n;o_- wen- unsuccessful, though 

the Zarya was once in 77 32' \.. ..|j" 17' 1.. and also 
reached a point within [ , miles ^\ Cape Emma, Ben 
net hand. The ship was frozen in at Nerpiohi B 
Kotelnoi, 75 22' n., 137 k.'i., in [901, and wintered 

at the mouth of the Lena the next season. Toi I . AstTOnO 

mer Ski BERG, and two huntris 1,-ft the Kotelnoi ;lh |une. 

hi"in recovered records it appears that aftei ardui 



The Islands of the Siberian Oceafi 195 

efforts they landed on Bennet Island 3d August 1902, 
which was found to be a plateau not exceeding 1,500 feet 
in elevation. Geological researches disclosed Cambrian 
deposits, bones of mammoth, and other Quaternary- 
period animals. At present there are bears, walrus, and 
reindeer. They left the island for Kotelnoi 8th November, 
and doubtless perished. 

The relief expeditions of Bkusneff and Kolchak in 
1904 failed to find any traces of Toll in the New Siberian 
Islands, or Bennet Land, except the record mentioned. 

Toll's contributions to knowledge have been most val- 
uable in determining the areas and types of Tertiary de- 
posits in Arctic Siberia. These bear on the shifting of 
the geographical poles, in connection with the climatic 
changes of the earth since the end of the Tertiary period. 
The comparative value of Toll's Siberian researches has 
been enhanced by Maddren's discovery of Pleistocene 
mammals, mammoth, bison, and horse, on Old Crow 
River, Alaska. 



Sabine: WrangelVs Polar Sea (London 1844); De- 
long:^ Voyage of the feannette, 2 v. (Boston 1883); 
Hooper & Ross; Cruise of the Corwin (Washington 
1 881) ; GlLDER : Icepack and Tundra (New York 1883) ; 
BUNGE & Toll : Expedition nach Neusiherien Inseln (St. 
Petersburg 1887); Toll: Russian Polar Expedition, 1901 
(Geogr. Jo., v. 20, London 1902) ; also see Petermann 
Mil., Nos. 10, 11 (Gotha 1902). 



CHAPTER XIV 

SMITH SOUND AND ROBESON CHANNEL 

CAPES Alexander and Isabella have been termed the 
' Northern Pillars of Hercules,' and not inaptly so, 
because these ice-bound rock-masses mark the limits of 
safe and dangerous ice-navigation, and since also between 
these portals have passed the expeditions that have again 
and again pushed poleward the Ultima Thule of the world. 
In his unequalled Arctic voyage of 1616 (page 20) Baffin 
attained a point within 25 miles of Cape Alexander, and 
discovered Smith Sound, running to the north of 7 8°. 
It was 236 years before Baffin's latitude, in a tiny shallop, 
was surpassed ; and then, although with steam, by only a 
few miles. The northern limits of Smith Sound were de- 
termined by Captain E. A. Inglefield in the Isabel, in a 
summer search for Franklin, and to ascertain if Smith 
Sound was connected with the Polar Sea. 

At midnight, 26th August 1852, the Isabel was off Cape 
Alexander, the farthest seen by Baffin, and the north- 
ward view opened to the long expectant Inglefield, who 
'beheld the open sea stretching through seven points of 
the compass .... bounded on the east and west by 
distant headlands (Cairn Point and Cape Albert).' 
Twelve hours later the Isabel was turned back by ice 
from 7 8° 28' n., — some 43 miles beyond Baffin, — anc 
reached England in November. Considering expenditurt 
of time, money and effort, this is one of the most success- 



Smith Sound and Robeson Channel 197 

ful of modern voyages. Inglefield laid down 600 miles 
of uncharted coast, rectified many errors, outlined Smith, 
and penetrated far into Jones' Sound. 

American energy, liberality and courage were destined 
to win the highest laurels by the new polar passage, now 
known as the American route. Elisha Kent Kane first 
passed north of Smith Sound into the enclosed sea that 
appropriately bears his name. With the Advance, fitted 
out in 1853 by Henry Grinnell and George Peabody, 
Kane contemplated a search for Franklin and a northerly 
extension of Inglefield's discoveries. In August the 
Advance had beaten hey steam- rival, Isabel, and was off 
Littleton Island, where, detained by ice, Kane prudently 
and most fortunately cached a boat and provisions, at 
Life-Boat Cove. Alternately favored and harassed by 
ice-conditions, Kane rounded Cairn Point and was fairly 
in Kane Sea when a gale almost wrecked the Advance. 
Disregarding the cautious and almost unanimous advice 
of his officers to seek a harbor to the south, Kane 
warped the brig to the east, where she found her final 
moorings, in Rensselaer Harbor, 78 37' n., 71 w. 

An autumnal sledge journey opened up the high coast 
at Cape Constitution, while other parties examined the 
great ice-cap of Greenland, and cached sledging supplies 
under the towering face of Humboldt glacier. Winter 
killed their dogs, scurvy enfeebled the ill-fed crew, and 
spring opened with excessive cold; but Kane firmly 
adhered to his plans. An unfortunate sledge journey, 
in March 1854, caused the death of two men, disabled 
two others and the rest only escaped by Kane's heroic 
personal efforts. In May, his surgeon, Isaac I. Hayes, 
crossed Kane Sea, with one man and a dog-sledge, and, 
first of all explorers, reaching Grinnell Land, traced it to 
Cape Frazer, 79 43' n. On the Greenland side, mate 



:q3 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

William Morton and Hans Hendrik skirting Humboldt 
glacier scaled, 24th June 1854, the south side of Cape 
Constitution, So° 35' n., whence from a height of 500 
feet they saw the southwest half of Kennedy Channel, 
perfectly ice-free, and the east coast of Grinnell Land, 
probably to Mount Ross, 8o° 58' n., 75 miles beyond 
Hayes's farthest. 

Realizing his desperate situation Kane vainly attempted, 
in July 1 85 4, to reach Beechey Island, 400 miles distant, 
to obtain assistance from Belcher, who was then pre- 
paring to abandon his own ice-bound ships. Fortunately 
the ice-conditions prevented Kane from even reaching 
Cape Parry. On 28th August, Hayes, believing with the 
majority of the crew that another winter would be fatal, 
left the Advance with Kane's consent, in a futile and 
desperate autumnal attempt to reach Upernivik. After 
terrible sufferings, wherefrom they would have perished 
except for the Etah Eskimo, the party returned to the 
ship in December. 

The spring of 1855 found the party in a deplorable 
condition from unfit diet, increasing scurvy and mental 
depression. Several men were completely disabled, the 
harbor ice was solid, fuel exhausted, the upper works of 
the brig were burned, and their friends the natives had 
been reduced by failure of game to the lowest stages of 
emaciation. There was no other course but to abandon 
the brig (which was done, 20th May 1855), and attempt 
to reach Upernivik by boat. 

By indefatigable exertions of Kane, supplemented by 
Eskimo contributions of transportation and food, the 
invalids, records, and boats were transported 80 miles to 
open water at Cape Alexander ; but the journey was 
unfortunately marked by the death, caused by over-exer- 
tions for the common safety, of their ship's carpenter, the 



Smith Sound and Robeson Channel 199 

Dane Ohlsen, in sight of the open water that was to bring 
safety to his comrades. Fifty days brought Kane's party 
to Upernivik, and they returned to the United States in 
the squadron under Lieutenant Harstene, who had been 
sent out for their rescue. 

The results of Kane's expedition were most important. 
It extended northward Grinnell Land from Bache Island 
to Carl Ritter Bay, Greenland from Cape Ingersoll to 
Cape Constitution, and outlined free-water ways that have 
been more persistently and safely followed poleward than 
any other. The scientific contributions were most in- 
teresting, especially those relating to the flora, fauna and 
ethnography of extreme western Greenland, — a region 
isolated by the great surrounding ice-cap. The tidal, 
meteorological, magnetic and glacier observations were 
most valuable, not only by their remoteness from others, 
but also as forming the basis and stimulus of the existing 
magnificent series of physical contributions relating to 
West Greenland. 

Immediately after the return of Kane, his surgeon 
Isaac Israel Hayes succeeded, through the advocacy of 
Professors Bache and Henry and the support of Grin- 
nell, in fitting out a new expedition. Failing to obtain 
the steam vessel that he recognized as necessary for sure 
success, Hayes sailed on the schooner United States, and 
on 4th September i860 entered Port Foulke, 78 18' n., 
73 w. Here he wisely decided to winter, recognizing 
that any sailing vessel pushed into Kane Basin is hope- 
lessly situated. That autumn he traversed the inland ice 
40 miles, to that time the most successful attempt to 
penetrate the interior of Greenland. 

The winter proved unfortunate ; his Eskimo dog-driver, 
Peter, fled to the inland ice and perished ; his sledging- 
dogs, the mainstay of future explorations, died. A greater 



200 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

calamity was the death of Sontag, the astronomer, whose 
scientific acquirements and previous Arctic experience 
with Kane made him the most valuable member of the 
party. Sontag's death by freezing occurred on a sledg- 
ing trip with Hans Hendrik to communicate with the 
Etah Eskimo, with whom Hans had lived from the end 
of the Kane expedition in 1855. Sontag's fate gave 
rise to insinuations as to Hans's connection therewith, but 
there are no grounds for imputing anything more than 
lack of judgment and decision under calamitous circum- 
stances that would have sorely tried any man. 1 

In the spring of i86<|> Hayes, securing the co-operation 
of the natives, visited Van Rensselaer Harbor, where he 
found the dismantled Advance of Kane vanished and its 
mooring place filled with ice mast-high. Later Hayes 
commenced his northern journey, and, imbued with his 
theory of an open polar sea, transported a boat to secure 
his retreat. After losing four weeks' time and utterly ex- 
hausting his men, he sent back the boat, proceeded by 
dog-sledge, and with three men reached Cape Hawks nth 
May, having been 39 days on a journey that he could 
have made in ten days with dogs alone. 

Four days later Jansen, being disabled, was left with 
McDonald, while Hayes and Knorr pushed on, reaching 
their farthest, 19th May 1 861, at a point called Cape 
Lieber, which Hayes placed by his unreliable observa- 
tions in 8i° 35' n., 70 30' w. Stopped by water-holes, 
an unobstructed view was had from a height of 800 feet. 
Hayes says, ' The sea was a mottled sheet of white and 
black patches multiplied in size as they receded until 
the belt of the water-sky blended them together. ... All 
the evidences showed that I stood upon the shores of the 

1 See Memoirs of Hans Hendrik, written by himself, translated 
by Dr. H. Rink (London 187S). 



Smith Sound and Robeson Channel 201 

polar basin, and that the broad ocean lay at my feet ; in 
dim outline [was] a noble headland, judged to be in 82 
30' n. . . . There was no land visible except the coast 
on which I stood.' 

Subsequent expeditions have surveyed this region with 
great accuracy, and it is known that Hayes neither saw 
an 'open polar sea,' nor reached the astronomical point 
mentioned ; for there is an error either of one and a 
half degrees of latitude or six and a half degrees of longi- 
tude. Hayes left uncharted the North Greenland coast, 
and elsewhere says : ' No land to the eastward. As it 
would not have been difficult through such an atmos- 
phere to see a distance of 50 or 60 miles, it would 
appear that Kennedy Channel is wider than heretofore 
supposed.' Kennedy Channel is only 30 miles wide, and 
the lofty Greenland coast is plainly visible from every 
point of the Grinnell Land shore in equal latitude. From 
the north side of Rawlings Bay, Greenland to the north of 
Cape Constitution plainly comes into view. As Hayes's 
map of Greenland ends with that cape, he could not have 
reached the north side of Rawlings Bay, and his farthest 
could not have been beyond Cape Joseph Goode, 8o° 1 1' n., 
which point fulfils best the varied conditions imposed by 
the scientific journals, personal narrative and maps of 
Hayes, and the topography of the region. The 'open 
polar sea,' an endless source of theory and discussion, 
was only the south half of Kennedy Channel, which freezes 
late and opens early owing to its very high tides, some 
30 feet ; it was found open by Morton, and has never 
been seen entirely closed. 

Despite the mythical ' open polar sea ' and his failure 
to exceed the latitude of Morton, Hayes's adventurous 
journey contributed to Arctic geography. He was the 
first civilized man to visit the lands of Ellesmere and 



202 Handbook oj Arctic Discoveries 

Grinnell, whose coasts be surveyed between 77 'and 7S 
NT., adding Hayes Sound, Bache Island and othei details 
to our maps, in [869, Haves visited Greenland with the 
artist Bradford in the Panther, his voyage contributing 
to our knowledge of the gl iciers oi Melville Hay ; othei 
w 1 ic ii was devoid of inten 11 

Another American here ventured his fortunes, having 
gained earlier reputation and experience in the Franklin 
search. Though aol professionally qualified t<> cosamand 
his ship, nor to assume charge of the b< ientific work con- 
nected with his expedition, yel Charles Francis Hall 
had the qualities that mark the genuine Arctic explorer. 
Fertile In resources, indefatigable in exertions, sparing no 
persona] efforl "i" exposure, faithful in record and con 
servative in a< tion, great results were expected from I [all 
in his voyage in the Polaris, a reconstructed tug oi the 
United States Navy unsuited foi An tic work. 

Hall was uncertain whether he would follow Smith 01 

Jones Sound, hut Smith Sound being entirely ice free the 

question of route was Bettled. With phenomenal good 
fortune the Polaris crossed the parallel of Van Rensselaer 
Harbor, and steamed uninterruptedly through Kane Basin, 
Kennedy Channel, Hall Basin, and Robeson Channel into 
the hitherto inaccessible Polar Ocean. She was stopped, 
by a heavy pack, 30th August [870, in 8a° u' n., the 
highest northing then attained by vessel, within 34 miles 
of Parry's latitude by boal north <>f Spitsbergen ; in this 
sea it was 200 miles beyond Kani ' 9 Advance. 

From his highest point Hall saw that the adjacent 

COaSl Of ( heel 1 1 mil I tended east, while tin- opposite shoie 

of ( rrinnell I .and continued to the north. 

Contrary to the rule of ice-navigation Hall sought, 
with unfortunate results, a (Repulse) harbor on as 
shoo . The Polaris, unable to enter, was caught by the 



Smith Sound and Robeson Channel 203 

main polar pack, and, after 50 miles' southing, was forced 
on the Greenland shore. Barely escaping destruction, 
she obtained anchorage under an enormous floeberg, 650 
by 450 by 300 feet in size, in 8i° 37' n., 62° w. In this 
open roadstead, called Thank God Harbor, the expedi- 
tion wintered. 

While preparatory work for winter was in progress, 
Hall made a sledge journey northward to Cape Brevoort, 
82 n., whence he saw ' land extending on the west side of 
the [Robeson] strait to the north, as far as we can dis- 
cover, about 8 3 05' N. ; ' subsequent observations show 
that Hall was very nearly correct. Indirectly the jour- 
ney proved fatal to Hall and the expedition, for immedi- 
ately on his return he was taken violently sick and died, 
8th November 1871. 

Desultory and unsuccessful efforts to go north by boat 
were made in 1872; a dog-sledge trip was made to the 
south by D r Bessels, to Petermann Fiord, and Sergeant F. 
Meyer, signal corps, U. S. Army, reached on foot Repulse 
Harbor, 82 09' n., to that time the most northerly land 
ever attained by civilized man. 

In returning south that autumn, another ice-rule was 
ignored by the Polaris with disastrous results. Pushed 
into an impassable ice-pack, she was anchored to a floe, 
and left to the mercy of ice, wind and current. For two 
months the ship drifted slowly southward, and was off 
Northumberland Island, when a violent gale disrupted the 
pack and nearly destroyed her. Part of the terror-stricken 
crew, escaping in the darkness to the ice-pack, experienced 
the horrors of a mid-winter ice-drift, whose appalling dan- 
gers and bitter privations can scarcely be appreciated. Five 
months later, after a drift of 1,300 miles, the despairing 
party were picked up by the Tigress, off Labrador, 30th 
April 1873, not only unreduced in numbers, but with a girl 
baby born to the Eskimo, Hannah. 



204 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

Those who held to the Polaris fared better. The ship 
drifted to land, near Life-Boat Cove, of Kane, where she 
was beached, being unseaworthy, and a shelter (Polaris 
House) constructed. In 1873, boats were built; and, 
starting on a journey to Upernivik, the party was rescued 
at Cape York by the whaler Ravenscraig, June 2 2d. 

The geographic results of this expedition were extensive 
and valuable. Hall had completed the exploration of 
Kennedy Channel, discovered Hall Basin and Robeson 
Channel, and even visited the hitherto inaccessible polar 
ocean. He had extended both Crinnell Land and Green- 
land northward nearly two degrees of latitude, the former 
practically to its extreme limits, and explored extensive 
portions of the latter. The most important physical dis- 
covery of Hall was the termination of the northwestern 
inland-ice of Greenland at Petermann Fiord, and the en- 
tirely ice-free condition of several thousand square miles 
of the most northerly part of Greenland, — the largest 
known area of bare ground of that continent. 

The unprecedented successes of Hall stimulated anew 
the interest of Great Britain in Arctic discovery, and a large 
well-found expedition, the Alert, Discovery and Valorous, 
sailed in 1875. The command was entrusted to Captain 
George Nares, one of the ablest of British navigators, who 
was detached from the celebrated Challenger expedition 
for this important service. The Valorous returned from 
Disco, while the other ships reached Cape Sabine without 
difficulty, wisely caching 3,600 rations on the southeast 
Cary Island to ensure possible safe retreat ; 3,600 rations 
were later cached at Cape Hawks, 1,000 at Cape Lincoln, 
and smaller amounts at other important points. 

The journey northward from Cape Sabine was as unlike 
Hall's as possible, — a constant struggle against adverse 
ice-conditions instead of an open sea, Nares following the 





Smith Sound and Robeson Channel 205 

sound principles of hugging the west shore, keeping free 
from the heavy pack, and following shore channels opened 
by tide or wind. His squadron passed Cape Lieber, and 
crossing Lady Franklin Bay, 25 th August 1875, f° un d a 
fine, land-locked (Discovery) harbor, where he put his 
supporting ship, Discovery, in winter quarters. Pushing 
his own ship, Alert, northward along the west shore of 
Kennedy Channel, he was able to reach Floeberg Beach, 
82 25' N./62 w., the most northerly point ever reached 
by ship j there he wintered on the exposed shores of the 
Polar Ocean. Autumnal sledging parties laid out depots 
for the next spring, at fearful cost, as eight men were frost 
bitten, three so badly as to render amputations necessary. 
Lieutenant Pelham Aldrich was more fortunate in an 
exploring trip wherein he exceeded the hitherto unsur- 
passed latitude of Parry, 1827, by reaching 82 48' n., 
on the coast of Grinnell Land, which stretched yet farther 
to the north beyond the 83d parallel. The sun was ab- 
sent 145 days, and the average cold of the winter was 
intenser than any before experienced, but spring found 
the crew of the Alert in health. Communication was 
opened with the Discovery, costing the life by frost-bite 
of Christian Petersen, despite the heroic exertions of 
Lieutenants Rawson and Egerton. 

With returning sunlight Nares commenced the sledging 
work for which he was sent forth. His efforts were 
divided between a direct journey toward the North Pole 
over the frozen sea, which was made by Markham (page 
171), and the exploration of the north shores of Grinnell 
land by Lieutenant Aldrich, the latter very successful, 
as he traced 220 miles of new coast. Passing Cape 
Columbia 83 07' n., Aldrich reached Cape Alfred 
Ernest, 18th May 1876, in 82 16' N., 86° w., where 
Grinnell Land trends to the southwest. Attacked by the 



206 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

scurvy on the return trip, only Aldrich and one man out 
of eight were able to haul, and all would have perished 
save for Lieutenant May, who came to aid them. 

From the Discovery, Lieutenant Archer surveyed thor- 
oughly a (Archer) fiord to the south, while D r COPPINGER 
visited Petermann Fiord, after supporting Lieutenant L. A. 
Beaumont, who explored the Greenland coasts. Beau- 
mont travelled via the Alert to Repulse Harbor, and fol- 
lowed the coast to Cape Bryant. Pushing across Sherard 
Osborn Fiord, he found his men to be weakened by scurvy, 
while deep, soft snow made dragging very heavy. Leav- 
ing his party to recuperate in camp, Beaumont with one 
man succeeded, 20th May 1876, in reaching the eastern 
shore, 82 20' n., 51 w. Disease steadily disabled his 
sledge-men, and although he dropped instruments, food 
and everything not indispensable, yet hope almost failed 
when he found the ice of Robeson Channel too rotten 
to permit crossing to the Alert, at Floeberg Beach. All 
but one of his eight men were unable to work, and only 
the advent of Lieutenant Rawson and D r Coppinger saved 
the gallant party. As it was, two men, Paul and Hand, 
died at Thank God Harbor, Hall's old quarters. 

As his sledge parties had all broken down, and 36 cases 
of scurvy had occurred on the Alert alone, Nares wisely 
decided to return. By daring and skilful ice-navigation 
he successfully extricated his ships and reached England 
that autumn (1876). 

The geographic work done was extensive and import- 
ant. It did not consist alone in carrying a British ship 
and in planting the Union Jack in a higher latitude by 
land and by sea than had ever before been attained. 
The coast of Grinnell Land was surveyed from the head of 
Archer Fiord northward to Cape Columbia and thence to 
its probable western limit. The north shores of Green- 



Smith Sound and Robeson Channel 207 

land had been extended from Cape Bryant to Cape 
Britannia, and Beaumont's observations had determined 
that the land to the eastward of Sherard Osborne Fiord was 
equally ice-free with that seen by Hall. The tidal, mag- 
netic, and meteorological observations were valuable addi- 
tions to the physical sciences, and the tenacious courage 
and persistent energy of its men and officers added new 
laurels to the British navy. 

Americans again sought the dangerous waters of the 
West Greenland Channel, engaged neither in an attempt 
to reach the ' Open Polar Sea,' nor to attain the north 
geographic pole. The Lady Franklin Bay expedition 
under Lieutenant A. W. Greely occupied one of the 
International Circumpolar stations, for systematic scien- 
tific work, and as such its fortunes and successes are 
considered in a subsequent chapter. 

Important discoveries were made in Ellesmere Land 
by Peary (p. 179) in 1898. During September he deter- 
mined the peninsularity of Bache Island, of Kane ; the 
continuity of Ellesmere and Grinnell Lands, previously 
supposed to be separate ; discovered Flagler Fiord, and 
ascending the ice-cap west of it, reached the western 
watershed of Ellesmere Land. In July 1899, he ascended 
the^ inland ice from Princess Marie Bay and passing the 
summit, its elevation exceeding 5,000 feet, looked down 
on the ice-free western shores of the sound, later named 
Heureka by Sverdrup; Peary also sighted far to the 
northwest the north shore of Greely Fiord, discovering 
a new waterway, Cannon Bay, which unites with the fiord 
at Cape Lockwood. 

Stein's efforts to explore Jones Sound in 1900 (see 
Tour du Monde, Paris 1902) had no notable results. 

The final charting of Ellesmere Land, by a curious 
chance, was dependent on the non-success of exploration 



2o8 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

elsewhere. Fresh from the drift of the JFram (p. 173), 
Sverdrup planned a voyage to be equally striking in this 
region, his original aims being the entrance of the polar 
area via Kennedy Channel, the examination of Hazen 
Land, and the circumnavigation of Greenland. Failing 
utterly in these directions, he turned to Jones Sound, the 
very threshold of the Unknown Regions, and by good for- 
tune and hard work made the most extensive additions to 
Arctic geography that have occurred for years. Sailing 
with 15 men in the reconstructed Fram in 1899, he 
was unable to enter Kane Basin and wintered in Rice 
Strait, west of Cape Sabine. Autumnal sledge parties, 
during one of which his doctor died in the field, proved 
Schley Land of Greely to be the head of Hayes Bay, and 
also confirmed Peary's earlier discovery as to the con- 
tinuity of Ellesmere and Grinnell Land. 

One of his parties having reached the westward sloping 
ice-cap of Ellesmere Land, Sverdrup transferred his base 
for three years, 1 899-1 902, to the fiords of the north 
coast of Jones Sound. Winter quarters were first in 7 6° 
29' n., 84 25' w., and later in 76 48' n., 89 w., the 
Fram being unable to leave the harbor in 1901, or in any 
year to pass westward of Jones Sound. 

Sverdrup pursued his explorations to the north and west 
with vigor and success. Sledding conditions were favor- 
able to an extent unsurpassed in polar work, and field 
service was unusually free from the usual privations and 
hardships of Arctic journeys. The enclosed areas over 
which he travelled were free from the frightful pressure- 
ridges of the polar sea, so that he usually made from 
15 to 17 miles per day; in addition game was abundant, 
musk-oxen, hares, and reindeer. 

Sverdrup and Fosheim traced, in 1900, the supposed 
west shore of Ellesmere Land to 8o° 50' n. In 1901 fur- 



Smith Sound and Robeson Channel 209 

ther explorations proved that this discovery was an island, 
Heiberg Land, separated from the mainland by a narrow 
(Heureka) strait, which was followed . that year to its 
junction with Greely Fiord, in 8o° 30' n. Renewing his 
efforts in 1902, Sverdrup, with Schei, carried the Norwe- 
gian flag, on May 13, to 8i° 37' n., 92 w., whence from a 
high island the coast appeared to trend northeasterly to 
Aldrich's farthest, about 60 miles distant, 82° 16' n., 
86° w. This confirms the opinion of Greely, who first dis- 
covered the west coast (Chap. XVI) of Ellesmere Land in 
1882, as to the limited westerly extent of Grinnell Land. 
Sverdrup in his various journeys explored the many fiords 
which intersect the coasts, and his officers made extensive 
geological and botanical collections. 

Isachsen and Hassel explored a new land near to and 
first seen from Heiberg Land. Visiting its west coast 
in 1900, Isachsen skirted its entire coast in April 1901. 
It consists of two islands, Ellef and Amund Ringes, sep- 
arated by Hassel Sound. The northwestern point, Cape 
Isachsen, in about 79 20' n., 106 w., is interesting 
as the extreme projecting land into the Arctic Ocean. 
There were no evidences of open water at this cape, and 
the adjacent shores were marked by violent pressures from 
the" polar pack. 

To the southwest of this land was visible an island, 
which is unwarrantably claimed as a new discovery. In 
fact it is Finlay Land, discovered by Sherard Osborne, 
29th April 1853, from the northwest coast of Wellington 
Island 30 miles distant. Osborne speaks of it as an 
extensive land with two remarkable formations. 

Schei's geological collections are extensive and im- 
portant. They show Cambrian, Silurian, and Devonian 
formations in south Ellesmere Land ; Mesozoic formations 
and Tertiary deposits were found on the shores of Greely 
14 



210 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

Fiord and Heiberg Land. Unfortunately the meteoro- 
logical work was not supplemented by regular magnetic 
observations. 

Altogether Sverdrup's discoveries, supplementing those 
of Belcher, Richards, Osborne, and others (Chapter XI ), 
are most valuable, as they fill in the gap between Finlay 
Island, 1853, and Greely Fiord of Lockwood and Brai- 
nard, 1S83. This is the probable completion of the litto- 
ral boundary of the main North-polar basin, within which 
is the great Arctic Ocean and possibly an extensive ice- 
covered land to the north-northwest of Melville Island ; 
as such it is a most important geographical contribution. 

Explorations to determine the existence of such a land 
are now progressing under A. H. Harrison, who, having 
established his base at the mouth of the Mackenzie River 
in 1905, contemplates a sledge journey over the polar 
basin via the west coast of Prince Patrick Island. Other 
expeditions in this general direction are organizing, one 
under Captain Ejnar Mikkelsen, so that the physical con- 
ditions existent in this area may soon be outlined. 



Baffin's Voyages (see page 21) ; Inglefield : Summer 
Search for Franklin (London 1853); Kane: Second 
Grinnell Expedition, 2 v. (Philadelphia 1856); Hayes: 
Arctic Boat Journey (New York i860), and Open Polar 
Sea (New York 1867) ; Davis: Polaris [Hall's] North 
Polar Expedition (Washington 1876); Blake : Arctic 
Experiences ; Tyson's Drift (New York 1874) ; Nares : 
Voyage to the Polar Sea, 2 v. (London 1877) ; Bessels : 
Die Amerikanische Nordpol Expedition (Leipzig 1879); 
Sverdrup : Four Years in the Arctic Regions, 2 v. (London 
1904). For Peary see Chapter XII. 



lag :kahi 









CHAPTER XV 

FRANZ JOSEF LAND 

PETERMANN says : ' I consider it highly probable 
that the great Arctic pioneer, William Baffin, may 
have seen the western shores of Franz Josef Land in 1614.' 
However that may be, our present knowledge of this Arctic 
archipelago is due to the exertions of the Austrian soldier 
Payer, and the English yachtsman Leigh Smith (p. 234). 

At the instance of Lieutenant Carl Weyprecht, Austrian- 
Hungarian navy, Count Wilczek fitted out two expeditions 
to explore the Nova Zembla Sea and try the northwest 
passage. With Weyprecht was associated Lieutenant 
Julius Payer, Austrian- Hungarian army ; and in a pre- 
liminary journey in the Isbjorn, they reached, 1st Septem- 
ber 1871, 78 48' n., 42 e. The Tegetthof carried the 
second expedition, Weyprecht exercising marine com- 
mand and scientific control, while all land explorations 
fell to Payer. 

The Tegetthof, with 24 souls and eight dogs, fell in with 
Wilczek near Barents Isle, where with the Isbjorn he 
was placing supplies for their possible retreat. Ice con- 
ditions parted them, 20th August 1872, when the Tegetthof, 
steaming north, was beset the same day in sight of Nova 
Zembla, in 76 22' n., 63 e. Destined never to reach 
open water again, the ship drifted with the ice-pack here 
and there as the winds blew; for in that sea the wind con- 



212 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

trols ice-movements. From week to week the bleak but 
welcome shores of Nova Zembla faded gradually, until at 
last only wastes of ice formed their narrow horizon. 

The terrible conditions under which they existed may 
be surmised from Payer's narrative : 'On 13th October 
1882, our floe broke across immediately under our ship. 
. . . We were surrounded and nipped. . . . Our floe was 
now crushed, and its blocks, driven hither and thither, 
towered fathoms high above the ship, and forced the 
massive oak timbers against the hull. The ice under the 
ship began to raise her, and we made ready to abandon 
her, if, as seemed inevitable, she should be crushed. . . . 
The Tegetthof heeled over, and huge piles of ice threat- 
ened to precipitate themselves on her, but the pressure 
abated.' 

Driven by fearful ice-convulsions to contemplate the 
loss of their ship at the beginning of an Arctic winter, 
they built a house on the main floe, where coal, fuel, and 
other supplies were stored. This done, they applied 
themselves to observations, exercise, short journeys, and 
an occasional bear-hunt. 

Thus passed the first winter ; and when the returning 
sun cast its first rays on the haggard crew, they felt that 
the least educated man of all expressed the inmost feelings 
of even the most cultured when he said, ' Blessed sun- 
light ! ' With the sun came bears, in such numbers as to 
contribute materially to their food supply, and with such 
ferocity as to make their visits dangerous. From February 
the ship drifted first northwest and then north, attaining 
its greatest longitude, 71 e., in 79 n. ; with summer they 
moved slowly westward, reaching, 8th July, 59 05' e., 
nearly their most westerly point. It developed that their 
drift was the resultant of southwest winds, as affected by 
the presence of (Franz Josef) land to the north. 



Franz Josef L and 2 1 3 

Summer was marked by no material change in the ice, 
but the presence of birds, seal, and bears insured an ample 
supply of fresh meat, thus preserving health. The mo- 
notony was broken 30th August 1873, when the rising mist 
revealed at mid -day, far to the northwest, the outlines of 
a bold and rocky land. It was hailed with transports of 
enthusiasm, for they realized that their toil and suffering 
had not been all in vain, since they had added a new land 
to the known domain of the world. It was the end of 
September before they dared to leave the ship, then in 
79 58' n., and by a forced march unsuccessfully endeav- 
ored to reach an (Hochstetter) island. A fog fell as they 
marched, and only by the sagacity of their dogs did they 
return safely to their ship. With stable ice, incident to 
coming winter, they were more fortunate in November, 
and made short trips to Wilczek Island. 

The second winter passed quietly, although they were 
harassed by constant fears that the drift would carry them 
away from the unexplored land. Their feverish impatience 
is best illustrated by Payer, who says : ' The reappearance 
of the sun last year was tantamount to a deliverance from 
hell jtself ; but now the sun was nothing to us save as a 
means to an end. Would it enable us to begin our sledge- 
journeys?' In March 1874, Payer, with six men and 
three dogs, visited Hall Island, a plateau land 2,000 feet 
high. A bear was killed during the five days' absence ; 
but the intense cold, 59 below zero, frosted the men so 
badly that they had to return. The main journey began 
26th March, with ten men and three dogs. Violent bliz- 
zards, intense cold and rough ice discouraged them, but 
consolation came in bagging four polar bears. Entering 
a sound (Austria) 1st April, they camped a week later at 
Hohenloe Island, 8i° 37' n., with two men worn out. 
Leaving them under a third man, Payer started north 



214 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

with the rest, full of hopes which the first day threatened 
to destroy entirely. 

While crossing Middendorf glacier, a snow-bridge gave 
way, and sledge, dogs, and man fell 30 feet down the 
crevasse. Payer was dragged in harness to the very edge, 
he being saved by the sledge wedging, while the man, / \\- 
inovich, was thrown on an ice-ledge, and the dogs held 
fast in their traces. The only chance of rescue lay six 
miles distant, in the party left at Hohenloe Island. 
Throwing off all outer garments, Payer ran in stocking 
feet, through deep snow, this distance in an hour. Such 
despatch was made that the relief party reached the cre- 
vasse four and a half hours after the accident, and lowering 
a man, drew up Zaninovich, dogs, and sledge uninjured. 

Payer reached, 1 2th April 1874, Cape Fligely, 81 ° 5 i'n., 
59 E., which was, and yet remains, the highest land ever 
attained in the Old World. Numerous water-holes and 
rotten ice forbade farther advance, as there was a very 
large area of clear water to the north and west. From a 
height of 1,000 feet it was seen that the land was part of 
an archipelago, as extensive as Spitzbergen. Payer says : 
'Rudolf Land still stretched [from Fligely] in a north- 
easterly direction to Cape Sherard Osborn. Blue moun- 
tain-ranges lay in the distant north, indicating masses of 
land. These we called King Oscar Land and Petermann 
Land ; the mountainous extremity on the west of the latter 
lay beyond the 83d degree of north latitude.' 

The return to the ship was peculiarly difficult owing to 
increasing water-holes, but their fears of the pack break- 
ing up during their absence were only too groundless. 
The ice remaining fast, the Tegetthqf was abandoned 20th 
May. The ruggedness of the floes was such that after 
'two months of indescribable efforts,' says Payer, 'the 
distance between us and the ship was not more than two 



Franz Josef Land 2 1 5 

German miles.' Persevering, they reached the free sea, 
15th August 1874, and nine days later fell in with Russian 
fishermen on the Nova Zembla coast. 

Payer was followed by Leigh Smith, steam-yacht 
Eira, who in 1880 unsuccessfully endeavored to reach 
Jan Mayen, East Greenland, and North Spitzbergen. 
Smith then turned toward the coast of Franz Josef Land, 
which had remained unvisited since 1874, although De 
Bruyne, in the Willem Barents, sighted its high land, 
probably Northbrook Island, 7th September 1879. Pick- 
ing up the pack in 77 10' n., 40 e., the Eira was driven 
by ice and weather this way and that, and on 14th August 
was discovered a small (May) isle southwest of McClintock 
Island. Smith pushed his discoveries with such judgment 
and energy as to cover the whole coast of Franz Josef 
Land from 42 e. to 54 e., the most westerly point of 
the south shore seen by Payer. From McClintock Island 
to Cape Neale, the southwest point of Cambridge Bay, the 
whole fringe of outlying islands, as well as the main shore, 
were surveyed. This included Brady, Hooker, North- 
brook, and many smaller islands, Nightingale and other 
sounds, and a number of bays. A secure (Eira) harbor 
was found in 8o° 04' n., 48 40' e. From the most 
northerly point, 8o° 19' n., 44 52' e., it was clearly seen 
that the western coast, to which the name of Alexandra 
Land was given, trends decidedly to the north-northwest, 
from Cape Ludlow to Cape Lofley, in about 8i° N. Franz 
Josef Land was followed to the east as far as Wilczek 
Island, where, 30th August 1880, open water marked the 
former location of the beset Tegetthoff, 1874; and thence 
the Eira proceeded to Spitzbergen. Every opportunity 
was improved to collect specimens and make observa- 
tions ; valuable botanical and geological collections were 
made on land, and of invertebrates in the sea. 



216 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

Trying his fortunes the following year, Smith arrived, 
28th June 1 88 1, in sight of Cape Ludlow j but unfavorable 
ice-conditions drove him to the east to Cape Flora, North- 
brook Island, where he lost his ship. The Eira sank 
within two hours after the leak was discovered, but by 
great energy the boats and a considerable quantity of 
supplies were saved. Supplementing his provisions by 
hunting, Smith carried his party through the winter quite 
comfortably. Taking to their boats the middle of June, 
by six weeks' strenuous efforts they reached the open sea. 
Following southward the west coast of Nova Zembla, the 
shipwrecked mariners fell in with the Willem Barents, 
3d August 1882, near Matthew Strait, in advance of the 
arrival of the Hope, sent out by the British government. 

Smith's voyages were most important, for they not only 
extended far to the northwest the limits of Franz Josef 
Land, but his observations and experiences disclosed the 
comparative richness of its fauna and flora. They brought 
forward this region prominently as a suitable base whence 
extended journeys could be made safely to the northward 
by any suitably equipped and well -led party that might be 
landed on its shores, and from which a boat retreat to 
Nova Zembla is also practicable. 

The very important hydrographic work and physical 
observations of the Norwegian North-Atlantic expedition, 
1876-78 (Mohn et al.: Den Norske Nordhavns- Expe- 
dition 1876-1878, Christiana, 1883) in the Spitzbergen 
and Barents sea stimulated farther scientific research in 
Arctic waters. Holland sent out for many summers, from 
1878 on, the Willem Barents to work especially in Barents 
sea. The success of the various able officers who have 
commanded have been most gratifying and important. 
They extended their investigations almost to the very 
shores of Franz Josef Land, and but for fog doubtless 



Franz Josef Land 217 

other points of the archipelago would have been seen 
besides that by De Bruyne in 1879. 

Little doubt exists that the Franz Josef archipelago 
extends westerly through a line of islands, to which White 
Island or Wiche Land belongs, to the Spitzbergen group. 
In 1876 Captain Hjeldsen discovered a small island, 
8o° 15' n., about 3 2 e., which, seen again by Captain 
Sorensen, 28th August 1883, was named White Island. 
In 1887 Captain E. H. Johannesen discovered to the 
east of Northeast Land an island, New Iceland, some 
2,000 feet high in 8o° 10' n., 30 32' e., which may 
possibly be White Island. 

In 1894 M r Alfred Harmsworth fitted out an expedi- 
tion for the exhaustive exploration of Franz Josef Land. 
The command was entrusted to M r Frederic Jackson, 
whose plans looked to the establishment of a land base 
of operations. Jackson landed on the 7th September 
near Cape Flora and sent back his ship, the Windward, 
which after a voyage of 65 days, through an ice-pack 300 
miles wide, reached Vardo with 12 of her crew sick of 
scurvy and two dead. 

In 1895 ^e ice-conditions were such that the Wind- 
ward could not reach Cape Flora, but she visited the 
party both in 1896 and 1897, bringing back Jackson 
and his party the latter year, their scheme of exploration 
having been satisfactorily completed. In 1897 the Wind- 
ward steamed 50 miles north of Cape Flora, the highest 
point reached by ship to that time in this archipelago. 

Jackson's journeys were extensive, and his explorations 
important. They cover nearly 15 degrees of longitude 
from 42 ° e. to 5 6° E., and over 80 miles of latitude from 
Northbrook Island, south of the eightieth parallel, to 
8i° 20', near to and northwest of Nansen's winter hut. 
In 1895, during a boat journey of great danger, Jackson, 



2i8 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

passing the most westerly known point of the archipelago, 
reached, 28th July, in So° 30' n\, 42 30' e., a bold ice- 
capped promontory of 2,000 feet, which he named Cape 
Mary Harmsworth. On iSth March 1896, from Cape 
Richtofen, about So° 50' n., 54 e., while at an elevation 
of 700 feet, Jackson looked out to the northwest over 
extensive open water, Victoria Sea, dotted here and there 
with an island. In 1S97 Alexandra Land was rounded 
from the northeast, and a journey across its extensive ice- 
cap proved Cape Mary Harmsworth to be its most western 
point. After the arrival of Nansen, whose opportune 
meeting with Jackson insured his safety, Jackson aban- 
doned his efforts to reach a high latitude, and his energies 
were applied to surveying this region, which his discoveries 
have proved to be an archipelago of small islands. Payer's 
explorations in 1873-74 were accurately charted as far as 
his own immediate route is concerned, but regions seen at 
a distance, laid down from magnetic bearings and at esti- 
mated distances, prove to be at many points erroneous. 
Doubtless the ice-covering of intervening straits led him 
to view such areas as ice- covered lands of considerable 
extent. 

The valuable geographical work of Jackson has been 
supplemented by physical observations and collections, 
which when arranged and discussed will doubtless give an 
adequate idea of the fauna, flora, and physical character- 
istics of the Franz Josef archipelago. 

In his North-polar voyage (see Chapter XII) Nansen 
returned via Franz Josef Land, where he discovered White 
Land, a group of five islands north of Graham Bell Land, 
and also the southwestern coast and isles off Prince Rudolf 
Island. From his winter hut on Frederick Jackson Island, 
Nansen made many observations of scientific value. Their 
discussion forms volume 1 of the Scientific Results of the 



Franz Josef Land 219 

Nansen Expedition, the memoir of Jurassic Fauna being by 
J. F. Pompeckj, and that on Fossil Plants by Nathorst. 

The northern limits of Franz Josef Land were definitely 
determined by the expedition of the Duke of the Abruzzi, 
Prince Luigi Amadeo of Savoy. The Stella Polare, under 
the Duke, reached Prince Rudolf Land by the British 
Channel, attaining 82 04' N., 59 e., the highest latitude 
then reached by a ship under steam in the eastern hemi- 
sphere. Finding anchorage in Teplitz Bay, 8i° 47' N., 
the ship was badly nipped and the expedition wintered on 
Rudolf Island. From this point was made the journey in 
which Cagni made the famous northing of 86° 34', de- 
scribed in Chapter XII. The ship being fortunately re- 
leased from the ice in 1901, the expedition returned 
safely. 

As regards the archipelago, the Duke's observations prove 
the non-existence of Peterman and King Oscar Lands of 
Payer, and the scattered islands of Wellman off the east 
coast of Rudolf. Extended astronomical observations 
have rectified many locations. The latitude of Cape 
Fligely is 8i° 51' n., thus very materially limiting the 
supposed northerly extension of these islands. - It proves 
to be an almost completely glacier-covered archipelago, 
probably not five per cent being ice-free land. 

The expedition of Wellman to Franz Josef Land in 
18.98 resulted in the exploration of the extreme eastern 
islands. E. Baldwin in a long sledge trip determined the 
east boundary of Wilczek Land, and discovered several 
islands also to the northeast. The largest, Graham Bell 
Land, extends to 65 e. and to 8i° 26' n., and is most im- 
portant as defining the easterly limit of the archipelago. 
His renewed efforts in 1900 had scanty results. The re- 
ported islands east of Rudolf Island are eliminated by the 
explorations of the Duke of the Abruzzi, yet Whitney 
and other islands remain to Wellman's credit. 



220 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

Neither of the Zeigler expeditions (1901 and 1903- 
1905) had any outcome beyond scientific observations 
by Baldwin, Fiala, and J. W. Peters. The one, however, 
under Fiala, in the America, reached S2 04' n., equalling 
the highest record for a ship under steam in the western 
hemisphere. The ship was destroyed by ice in Teplitz 
Bay during the first winter. The magnetical observations 
made by Peters are of exceptional value, not only from 
the high latitude and scanty neighboring data, but also 
from the systematic methods followed and the complete- 
ness of recorded observations. 



Weyprecht : Sulla spedizione polare austro-ungarica 
(Trieste 1875); Payer: New Lands within the Arctic 
Circle, 2 v. (London 1876) ; Jackson: Tlwusand Days 
in the Arctic (London 1899). For Duke of the Abruzzi 
see Chapter XII. For Leigh Smith see Proc. Royal 
Geogr. Soc. (London 1881, 1883). For Wellman see 
Natio7ial Geographic Magazine (Washington 1902). 



No. VIII. 




ARCTIC REGIONS, SHOWING LOCATION OF 
CIRCUMPOLAR STATIONS, 1881-83 






















. 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE INTERNATIONAL CIRCUMPOLAR STATIONS 

THE importance of scientific research in the Arctic 
regions has been more or less appreciated since 
the early days of the 19th century. Only within the last 
30 years, however, have the natural sciences been fully 
represented on polar voyages, and valuable as were the 
former individual contributions, yet they were restricted 
and inconclusive. A revolution was wrought in this 
direction through the efforts of Lieutenant Charles 
Weyprecht, Austrian navy, which eventuated in the es- 
tablishment of the International Circumpolar stations. 

His experiences in the Tegetthof (see Chapter XV) 
bore fruit in an address before the German Scientific 
and Medical Association of Gratz, in 1875. Demonstrat- 
ing that extensive Arctic explorations were essential to 
the full elucidation of the laws of Nature, he urged that 
scientific methods should dominate future plans and action. 
Scientific investigations should invariably be the primary 
object, and geographic discoveries — since thus they were 
alone of decided value — should be attempted in direc- 
tions where they would extend the fields of scientific 
inquiry. The subjects to be investigated should decide 
the locality of observing stations, and the series of ob- 
servations should be simultaneous, co-operative and 
continuous. 

A commission of eminent scientists, appointed by 



222 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

Prince Bismarck, reported that the work was of great 
value, that the united action of several nations was es- 
sential to complete success, and recommended it strongly 
to the Bundesrath and to all nations interested in science. 

Weyprecht and Count Welczek drew up a plan of the 
work, which was submitted to the International Meteoro- 
logical Congress, and received its decision ' that these 
observations will be of the highest importance in develop- 
ing meteorology and in extending our knowledge of ter- 
restrial magnetism.' From this recommendation arose 
the International Polar Conference, at Hamburg, ist 
October 1879, 01 " which D r Neumayer was president, 
eleven nations being represented by delegates or by 
favorable communications pledging support. The second 
conference met at Berne, 7th August 1S80, when the 
schedule of optional and obligatory observations, pre- 
viously drawn up, was adhered to. 

Eventually' 1 5 expeditions were sent forth : Denmark, 
Germany, Russia and the United States each occupied 
two stations ; Austria-Hungary, Finland, France, Great 
Britain, Holland, Norway and Sweden established one 
each. Thirty-four permanent observatories (among them 
Peking, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro, Munich, Tifiis, and 
Bombay), adopted the scheme of observations, thus 
raising the number of co-operating stations to 49, and 
making it a most notable instance of international scien- 
tific action. 

The Austrian-Hungarian expedition was sent at the 
expense of Count Wilczek, under the command of Lieu- 
tenant Emil von Wohlgemuth, A.-H. Navy, in the Pola, 
which failing to make a landing in May, returned to 
Tromsoe. Renewing the attempt in June, Jan Mayen was 
sighted by the Pola on the 27th; but it was not until 
13th July 1882, that she could make a harbor, and luv 



The International Circumpolar Stations 223 

she was twice driven back to it for shelter. The station 
was finally established at Mary Mussy Bay, 70 00' n., 
8° 28' w., and occupied till the return of the Pola, 4th 
August 1883. Wohlgemuth not only carried out his 
complete series of observations, but by boat and land 
journeys explored and charted the whole island, geograph- 
ical work badly needed. 

The regular Danish station was established under Pro- 
fessor A. F. W. Paulsen, at Godthaab, Greenland, 64 
11' n., 5i°4o'w., and occupied from 1st August 1882 
to 31st August 1S83. Special observations were made 
in atmospheric electricity, the march of temperatures in 
rock, earth and air, and measurement of the parallax of 
auroras, wherefrom the comparatively small altitude of the 
phenomena was determined. 

The primary object of Lieutenant A. P. Hovgaard, 
Danish steamer Dijmphna,vid& the discovery of new lands, 
but his secondary aim — co-operation with the interna- 
tional stations — dominated from his besetment in the 
Sea of Kara, 71 n., 64 e., i8tn September 1882. She 
wintered in company with the Varna, supplementing the 
ordinary observations by others on the action of chlorides 
and salts in the ice, salinity and temperature of different 
layers of the sea and the action of the pack, which moved 
with the prevailing wind. The Dijmplina drifted here 
and there, and after losing her screw fortunately escaped 
without shipwreck, westward through Waigat Strait, 25th 
September 1883. 

Finland opened a station at Sodankyla, 67 24' n., 26 
36' E., through the exertions of Professor Selim Lemstrom, 
of Arctic experience, who initiated the work and then 
turned it over to Ernst Biese. The station was occu- 
pied from 29th August 1882 to 1st September 1883 ; in 
addition to its observations, Lemstrom produced auroral 



224 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

displays electrically. In connection with this station and 
the one at Bossekop there was maintained in Lapland 
during the winter 1882-83 an auroral station under S. 
Tromholt at Kautokeino, 69 n., 23 e. 

France turned to the Antarctic regions for its choice of 
a location and decided on Cape Horn, where in the 
nearest safe harbor, Orange Bay, 55 31' s., 70 21' w., 
the station was installed, 6th September 1882, under 
charge of Lieutenant Courcelle-Seneuil. The entire 
expedition was under Captain F. Martial, commanding 
the frigate Romanche, who observed the transit of Venus 
and explored hydrographically all of the Magellanic 
archipelago south of Terra del Fuego. The station was 
abandoned 3d September 1883, the expedition having 
experienced neither mishap nor disaster. Not only did 
they make observations, optional as well as obligatory, but 
brought back no less than 70 cases of specimens, in the 
domains of anthropology, botany, ethnography, geology 
and zoology. These collections have been classified, 
studied and discussed in a manner most creditable to 
French scientists, and the result given to the world in 
a series of eight illustrated quarto volumes, unequalled in 
their typographic beauty by any other of the International 
Polar publications. 

Germany took a prominent part in the scientific work 
it had practically initiated, and established an Arctic and 
an Antarctic station, while the observatories at Breslau and 
Gottingen cooperated. The Arctic station was located 
at Kingawa Fiord, Cumberland Gulf, 66° 36' n., 67 19' 
w., under D r W. Giese, who sailed from Germany, 28th 
June 1882, and returned 17th October 1S83. Supple- 
mentary observations were made under L) r K. R. Koch in 
Labrador, through the aid of the Moravian missionaries. 
Giese carried out the complete programme of optional 



The International Circumpolar Stations 225 

and obligatory observations, and in May 1883 explored 
adjacent regions, he sledging to the southeast, while L. 
Ambronn examined the west side of the fiord. 

The Antarctic station of Germany was on the island of 
South Georgia, where its members were landed by a ship 
of the German navy in September 1882. Under com- 
mand of D r K. Schrader the expedition quartered on the 
shores of Royal Bay, which is surrounded by enormous 
glaciers of a thousand feet, rising in the interior to 6,000 
feet. These glaciers prevented extended explorations, and 
the mountain slopes were so steep that scarcely a day 
passed without the roar of heavy avalanches. While not 
strictly an Antarctic Island, yet its temperature conditions 
are such that the fauna and flora are wretchedly poor. On 
3d September 1883, the party disembarked on a German 
gunboat, having successfully completed its obligatory and 
optional observations. 

Great Britain and Canada cooperated in the establish- 
ment of a station at Fort Rae, Great Slave Lake, 62 39' 
n., 1 1 5 44' w. Captain H. P. Dawson, leaving England 
nth May, reached Fort Rae, 30th August 1882, and oc- 
cupied the station to 1st September 1883. 

Holland agreed to establish a station at Dicksonhavn, 
73 30' n., 8i° e., on the north coast of Asia. To this 
end D r M. Snellen sailed in the Norwegian steamer 
Varna from Amsterdam, 5th July 1882. The ice-con- 
ditions to the westward of Nova Zembla were so unfavor- 
able that the Varna entered the Kara Sea with great 
difficulty, and somewhat later, after an attempt to land on 
the west coast of Nova Zembla, was beset, 2 2d September 
1882, in company with the Danish exploring steamer 
Dijmphna. From time to time ice threatened the de- 
struction of the Varna, but she escaped serious injury 
until the end of December 1882, when the Dutch expedi- 



226 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

tion sought shelter on the Dijmphna. Every effort to 
relieve the dangerous situation of the Varna failed, and 
24th June 1S83, she sank. Notwithstanding their un- 
fortunate condition, D r Snellen displayed the true scien- 
tific spirit by continuing regular observations from beset- 
ment to 1st August 18S3, when the party started with 
boat and sledge to make the coast of Nova Zembla. 
They reached the south point of Waigat Island, 25th 
August, where they met the Nordenskidid and were landed 
in Hammerfest, 1st September 1883 — all in health. 

The Norwegian station at Bossekop, 69 56' n., 23 e., 
under Assistant A. S. STEEN, was occupied from the 
middle of June 1882 to 31st August 1883. 

The Russian stations were established under the 
auspices of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. 
That in the Lena delta was located on Sagastyr Island, 
73 23' n., 124 w., and occupied from nth August 1882 
to 6th July 1884. Lieutenant Jurgens, commanding, 
mapped carefully the whole delta, in addition to making 
complete observations, optional and obligatory. 

The second Russian station, commanded by Lieutenant 
C. Andrejeff, was located on the west coast of Nova 
Zembla, at Little Karmakul Bay, 72 23' n., 52 44' e. 
While the expedition, numbering 13, was conducted under 
the auspices of the Imperial Geographical Society, yet the 
government contributed largely toward its equipment, and 
transported the party to Nova Zembla in the steamer 
Tschishoof 'of the Russian navy. Archangel was left 31st 
July 1882, and after an uneventful voyage they reached 
Karmakul, 4th August where their coming was welcomed 
by the bands of summer hunters, Samoyeds and Pome- 
ranians, who in large numbers regularly visit Nova Zembla 
and occasionally winter oil the southern island. That 
autumn the Samoyeds withdrew to the mainland, except 



The International Circumpolar Stations 227 

one family that wintered near Karmakul. In May 1883, 
D r Grinewiskey with two Samoyeds and a dog team 
crossed Nova Zembla to the Kara Sea, and later, with 
Kriwascheja and a sailor, visited Matthew Strait, where 
geographic, botanical, and zoological specimens were ob- 
tained. On 1st December TiSCHOFF, a sailor, left the 
house for the spring, a hundred yards distant : his absence 
was unnoticed, and the next morning he was found naked 
in the snow. When consciousness returned he could give 
no account of the circumstances, and after amputations 
he died. On nth July 1883, the Tschishoof visited the 
station, and Andrejeff, leaving 5 th September on the 
Polar Star, reached Archangel five days later. 

The station designated for Sweden was Mussell Bay 
(Nordenskiold, 1 8 72-73), near Grey Hook, the extreme 
northern point of Spitzbergen. Professor N. Ekholm and 
eleven men sailed from Tromsoe, 9th July 1882, reaching 
Dane Island in six days, but the unfavorable ice-condi- 
tions obliged the ship to return southward. The station 
was then located in Ice Fiord, at Cape Thorsden, 78 28' 
n., 1 6° E. Here in 1872 a Swedish company in connec- 
tion with an unsuccessful enterprise had built half a mile 
of railway and erected a habitation known as the Swedish 
House. It was, however, ill-omened from the fate of 1 7 
Norwegians who perished in the winter of 1872-73, 
despite abundant fuel and food (p. 62). Nevertheless 
Ekholm passed the winter without illness, disaster or 
unusual incident, and returned safely to Tromsoe on the 
gunboat Urd, 28th August 1883. 

The United States were first in the field, through the 
indefatigable exertions of Captain H. W. Howgate, U. S. 
Army, whose Florence expedition to Cumberland Gulf in 
1877 was followed by an unsuccessful attempt of the Gul- 
nare in 1880 to reach Lady Franklin Bay. 



228 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

Lieutenant A. W. Greely, who had declined command 
of the private venture, accepted command in 1881 when 
the expedition was made national by Act of Congress. 
The party consisted of four officers, 19 men of the army, 
including an astronomer, a photographer, and meteorolo- 
gists especially enlisted for the purpose, and two Eskimo. 
Greely, in the sealer Proteus, left St Johns, Newfound- 
land, 7th July 1881, and after hunting up the mail of the 
British Arctic expedition, 1875-76, at Littleton Island, 
steamed through ice-free waters to Cape Lieber, 8i° 37' n. 
Here, on 3d August, in sight of its destination, the 
ship was stopped by the yet unbroken ice of Hall Basin ; 
but she succeeded in entering Discovery Harbor 1 1 th 
August, landed party and supplies at the winter quarters 
of the Discovery, 1875-76, and eight days later sailed 
homeward. 

Quarters were speedily built and scientific work at once 
commenced. Freezing temperatures set in 29th August, 
to continue nine months, and the sun left 15 th October, 
to be absent 135 days. Successful sledge -journeys broke 
the monotony of the autumn, and dry quarters, suitable 
food, hunting, exercise, and amusements insured perfect 
health through a winter unequalled for its severity. 

Lieutenant J. B. Lockwood and D r O. Pavy displayed 
great energy and endurance in preliminary sledging, even 
before the return of the sun in 1882. The ice-conditions 
of Robeson Channel were ascertained, Thank God Harbor 
(Hall, 1871) visited, and a small depot established at 
Cape Sumner. For six days Pavy's party travelled in 
temperatures averaging 73 below freezing, and Lock- 
wood's for ten days in 74°-5 below, — periods of intense 
prolonged cold never encountered by any party in the 
field, either before or since. These extreme experiences 
gave confidence, since they were endured without injury 



The International Circumpolar Stations 229 

to even the weakest, — and in Arctic work no team is 
stronger than its feeblest member. 

Disease had killed two-thirds of the dogs, but two small 
teams still remained. The stronger was sent with D r 
Pavy, who left 19th March 1882 to discover land to the 
north of Grinnell Land. Following the well-known coast 
to Cape Henry, he took to the polar pack, which was 
in the same indescribable roughness and confusion as 
Nares's officers found it in 1876. Four miles from land, 
82 ° 56' n., a gale housed the party, when to their dismay 
it was found, 23d April, that the storm had disintegrated 
the main polar pack, so that their floe was adrift in the 
Polar Ocean. Fortunately the floe set against the land 
near Cape Henry, and D r Pavy escaped with such articles 
as were indispensable to immediate safety. The abandon- 
ment of the journey necessarily followed. The water seen 
by Pavy was local, for at the same time Lockwood, on 
the Greenland coast, was struggling over an ice-clad sea 
that seemed eternally bound, so thick were its floes. 

Meanwhile the most important explorations were pro- 
ceeding under Lockwood, who left Fort Conger 3d April 
with four two-man sledges, seven dog sledges, 13 men all 
told, under orders ' to explore the coast of Greenland near 
Cape Britannia,' which was suspected to be separated from 
Greenland, and in case he passed beyond that point, he 
was to proceed north, east, or ' in such direction as [he] 
thought best to carry out the objects of the [main] ex- 
pedition, — the extension of knowledge regarding lands 
within the Arctic Circle.' 

Depots at Cape Beechey and Newman Bay facilitated 
the operations, which up to the latter point were carried 
out under extreme cold (8i° below freezing), rough ice 
and violent gales. From Newman Bay four men unfit for 
field work were sent back, and the advance party of nine 



230 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

started north 16th April with 300 rations for Repulse 
Harbor, which was reached overland in five days through 
tremendous exertions. 

The journey onward was marked by severe storms, rough 
ice, broken sledges, snow-blindness, minor injuries, and — 
worst of all for loaded sledges — soft deep snow ; never- 
theless the party reached Cape Bryant, 27th April. The 
average daily travel to this point was nine miles, the 
greatest ever made by man-power in a very high latitude 
on any extended journey. It was within two and a half of 
the average attained 600 miles to the south, over ordinary 
ice, by the great Arctic sledgeman, McClintock. 

Lockwood remained two days at Cape Bryant, during 
which Brainard, Ralston, and Ellison visited the highest 
point of Cape Fulford, where a clear view confirmed the 
opinion of Beaumont, 1876, that St Andrew's Fiord prob- 
ably unites with St George Fiord, and that no ice-cap 
covers the land northward of the 826 parallel. 

Most reluctantly the supporting sledgemen, Ellison, 
Frederick, Lynn, Ralston, and Salor, turned back on 
29th May, when Lockwood, Brainard, and Eskimo Chris- 
tiansen, with dog-sledge and 25 days' rations, struck north- 
east across the Polar Sea to Cape Britannia. Five and a 
half marches brought them to this cape ; their travel was 
marked by deep soft snow, necessitating half-loads, and 
by the discovery of a water channel, with no bottom at 
137 fathoms, separating the main sea-floe from the inshore 
ice. 

From an elevation of 2,050 feet at Cape Britannia, 
Lockwood saw that Victoria Inlet was ' an immense fiord 
running to the south ; no land visible at the head j all to 
the south is an indistinct mass of snow-covered mountains,' 
ending in about 82 30' n. Brainard says: 'An occa- 
sional glacier of moderate dimensions could be seen 



The International Circumpolar Stations 231 

struggling toward the sea,' the north limit of the glacial 
ice-cap of Greenland. 

Having reached land never before trodden by man, they 
rounded Cape Frederick, crossed Nordenskiold, Chipp, 
and Mascart Inlets, and camped 7 th May at Low Point, 
83° of n., in equal latitude with the highest known land. 
Beyond Cape Ramsay, 83 12' n., the land ran east, and 
in twelve miles travel they lost two miles latitude, but at 
the De Long Fiord they turned north. The immense 
fiords of De Long, Chipp, Nordenskiold, and Victoria, 
already passed, showed no signs of heading, and clearly 
indicated a new archipelago, intersected by these water- 
ways. On 10th May, Lockwood reached Mary Murray 
Island, 83 19' n., 42 21' w. A violent gale delayed 
them 63 hours, the cold exhausting them physically and 
the delay mentally. If weather forbade travel, life must 
be sustained ; but they tasted insufficient food only at 
intervals of 15, 24, and 19 hours, — the last as clearing 
weather made progress possible. Floes so high that the 
sledge was lowered by dog-traces, ice so broken that the 
axe cleared the way, and widening water-cracks in increas- 
ing numbers impeded progress ; but, despite all obstacles, 
they reached, 13th May 1882, Lockwood Island, 83° 24' n., 
42 45' w., the farthest of their journey, and the highest 
north, then or now. 

On a clear day, from height of 2,600 feet, was seen to 
the north ' an unbroken expanse of ice, interrupted only 
by the horizon.' Their view extended far beyond the 
84th parallel, and it was certain that the Polar Ocean 
there reached within 350 miles of the North Pole. To 
the northeast, in 83 35' n., 38 w., they saw the most 
northern known land, — Cape Washington, 28 miles to 
the north of Cape Columbia, Grinnell Land. There was 
a faint possibility of land extending northward from a 



232 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

point to the east of Cape Washington, but this was uncer- 
tain. To the south was ' a confused mass of snow-capped 
peaks, and the country much broken by entering fiords,' 
unfavorable to any extended ice-cap, as already indicated 
by the few small glaciers seen en route. Foxes, hares, 
lemmings, ptarmigan, and plants showed a country by 
no means devoid of vegetation or game. 

Returning to the supporting party at Cape Sumner, Fort 
Conger was reached 1st June 1882. 

In 1883, Lockwood attempted farther explorations to 
the northeast. Improved equipments and field experi- 
ence insured more rapid travel, and in six days they trav- 
elled to Black Horn Cliffs, east of Repulse Harbor, — a 
journey that took 2r days in 1882. Arriving here 1st 
April, 24 days earlier than the previous year, open water 
confronted them. From an elevation of 1,300 feet, Lock- 
wood saw water running northwest toward Cape Henry ; 
the northern horizon was fog-covered, and the precipitous 
Black Horn Cliffs were washed by the open sea. The 
temperature fell to 73 below the freezing point, and the 
inshore water froze so as to bear a sledge ; but on attempt- 
ing to proceed, the entire pack set off shore to the north, 
leaving Lockwood adrift. Escaping with difficulty, he 
abandoned farther explorations, as his orders required. 

While coastwise journeys were being made to the north, 
Greelv penetrated Grinnell Land, with a two-man sledge. 
Starting 26th April 1882, and following Discovery Harbor 
to the southwest, a short overland journey took them to 
Chandler Fiord, which had been passed by the British 
expedition of 1875-76 as a small bay. Following it west, 
it proved to be a deep fiord 30 miles long, with a branch 
to the north near its western extremity. Proceeding up 
this branch, Greely came to a (Ruggles) river through 
which discharged a large glacial (Hazen) lake some 500 



The International Circumpolar Stations 233 

square miles in area, which at the junction of the two pre- 
sented an ice-free pool. Crossing the lake, its feeding 
glaciers to the north proved to be projecting and escaping 
portions of a glacial ice-cap that covered North Grinnell 
Land between the Garfield Mountains and the Polar Sea. 
Henrietta Nesmith glacier had a convex front of some 
five miles, with a sheer perpendicular rise of 175 feet. 
Low, rounded and practically snow-bare hills formed the 
southern boundary of the lake, rising gradually to the high 
cliffs of Chandler Fiord. 

This remarkable interior region was again visited by 
Greely in June 1882, when he with two men reached 
Lake Hazen overland, and extended his discoveries to the 
southwest. Following up Very River to its source, the 
farthest reached was 175 miles from the home station, 
between Mount C. A. Arthur and Mount C. S. Smith, 
which evidently form the divide of Grinnell Land, — be- 
tween Kennedy Channel to the east and the Polar Ocean 
to the west. Greely ascended, 4th July 1882, Mount 
C. A. Arthur, the highest peak of Grinnell Land, 4,500 
feet above the sea. The cold of altitude admitted of brief 
delay ; but he saw that to the north of Lake Hazen were 
only snow-clad mountains, while the distant country to the 
west- southwest was similarly covered, — evidently ice-caps 
from their unbroken snow in very midsummer. The most 
distant mountains seemed to be on a separate land to the 
southwest, beyond an intervening fiord. The northwest 
view indicated that the United States Mountains, trending 
to the north, join the Challenger range of Aldrich. 

These discoveries were supplemented in 1883 by the 
journey of Lockwood across Grinnell Land from Archer to 
Greely Fiord. This officer, with Brainard and Christian- 
sen his companions in his great northern explorations, 
left Fort Conger 24th April, and in four marches was 67 



234 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

miles away, at Ella Bay. the farthest attained by Archer, 
1876, in 14 days by man-sledge. Climbing the highest 
mountain, 4,400 feet, Lockwood saw that the land to the 
south was covered by an ice-cap, of which the Ella Bay 
glacier is an offshoot. Persistently seeking another route, 
he penetrated by Beatrix Bay to Musk-ox Valley, — a 
musk-ox was there killed, — which was walled in by very 
high cliffs. 

Reducing weight and food to the lowest limits com- 
patible with his plan of twelve days' travel, Lockwood 
pushed on with a small sledge taken . for side trips. The 
country soon developed magnificent physical conditions, 
for the ice-capped region to the south presented to 
their astonished gaze a vertical ice-face ranging from 125 
to 200 feet as measured by the sextant. Journeying west, 
they sought in vain for a defaced front in order to ascend 
it, but only two places presented slopes, neither practicable. 
As the glacier front ran across valleys and mountains with 
almost unvarying thickness, the temporary name of ' Chi- 
nese wall ' was given to it, later changed to Mer-de-glace- 
Agassiz. At an elevation of 2,600 feet they crossed the 
' divide ' of Grinnell Land, and by a steep rocky ravine 
plunged down into a lake that debouched into the head 
of an unknown (Greely) fiord. A tidal crack, with its 
saline efflorescence, told that the western sea was reached. 
To the southwest they continued the magnificent shores of 
Greely Fiord, until driven to shelter by a prolonged storm 
that prevented farther progress. Their farthest camp was 
in 8o° 48' n., 78 26' w., whence from the adjoining cliffs, 
2,200 feet high, the country was examined. Greely Fiord 
proved to be 10 to 15 miles wide and about 60 miles 
long. Its shores, great cliffs broken by occasional side 
fiords, end to the north abruptly in Cape Brainard, doubt- 
less the west coast of Grinnell I -and, and to the south in 



The International Circumpolar Stations 235 

a succession of capes, the last Cape Lockwood, 60 miles 
distant, whence possibly the shore trends south to the vi- 
cinity of Schley Land, west of Hayes Sound. This journey 
ended the important geographic explorations, although 
unknown ground was elsewhere surveyed. 

The discovery of Mer-de-glace-Agassiz placed the lake 
region of Greely between two ice-caps of which the 
southern was the more remarkable, and the presence of 
Greely Fiord explained the manner by which the fleeing 
musk-ox and migrating Eskimo reached Grinnell Land and 
northern Greenland, from the Parry archipelago and the 
barren lands of North America. 

The inland journeys of Greely and Lockwood resulted 
in the examination of about 6,000 square miles of newly 
discovered land, which determines satisfactorily the extent 
and the remarkable physical conditions of North Grinnell 
Land. It brought to light fertile valleys, supporting herds 
of musk-oxen, an extensive ice-cap, rivers of considerable 
size, and a glacial lake (Hazen) of extensive area. These 
valleys, 150 by 40 miles in extent, were 700 miles to the 
north of the point in Greenland where Nordenskiold 
sought similar physical conditions. Their discovery con- 
firms his sagacity in believing in the possibility of such 
ice-free regions, which were forecast both for Greenland 
and Grinnell Land by Sir Joseph Hooker, who thought 
them ' instead of ice-capped, merely ice-girt islands,' a 
prediction near the truth as regards Grinnell Land. 

More remarkable, perhaps, was the discovery that 
Eskimo had wintered, as shown by permanent huts, at 
Lake Hazen, — doubtless a phase of that migration, remark- 
able for its route and distance over so barren a country, 
by which the children of the ice passed from the islands 
of the Parry archipelago to the east coast of Greenland. 
Lake Hazen, Black Rock Vale, Sun Bay, Discovery Har- 



236 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

bor, Cape Baird, Cape Beechey, — all gave abundant traces 
of the journey across Grinnell Land. 

Successful to such a degree as were these geographic 
explorations, they were strictly subordinated to the obli- 
gatory observations in the interests of the physical 
sciences. Systematic and unremitting magnetic observa- 
tions served to round out knowledge by enabling scien- 
tists to calculate the secular variation of the magnetic 
declination of the Smith Sound region. Apart from the 
general value of the meteorological series, it has most 
fully determined the climatic conditions of Grinnell Land. 
The tidal observations were so complete at the station, 
and so amply supplemented by outlying stations, that 
scientists have determined not only the cotidal lines of 
the Polar Ocean with satisfactory results, but also learned 
from them that the diurnal inequality of the tidal wave 
conforms at Fort Conger to the sidereal day. The pendu- 
lum observations have been classed as ' far the best that 
have ever been made within the Arctic Circle,' and the 
' determination of gravity [therefrom] has been singularly 
successful.' Botanical, zoological, and anthropological 
researches were pursued with similar unremitting atten- 
tion, so that the scientific work of the expedition may be 
considered as satisfactory and complete, — especially in 
view of the high latitude of the station. 

The visiting ship not coming, Greelv crossed to Kennedy 
Channel and found it ice-free. It appeared later that 
this ship, Neptune, remained inactive in Pandora Harbor 
during a southwest gale that there endangered her safety, 
while clearing the west coast and leaving open water to 
Fort Conger. Before the sun returned, in February 1883, 
Greely laid down stores at Cape Baird to facilitate re- 
treat by boats if the ship again failed. Field work over, 
arrangements were made in July to abandon the station j 



The International Circumpolar Stations 237 

records were duplicated, alternative articles selected, and 
everything packed for the worst. The ice breaking up 
9 th August, Greely started the following day, carrying 
every pound of food and fuel possible in his steam launch, 
two boats and dingy, the last loaded with screened coal. 
From Fort Conger to Cape Hawks the voyage was marked 
by the trying experiences incidental to navigation through 
water-ways crowded with ice, acted on by strong currents 
and high winds. The heavy spring-tides, 25 feet or more, 
and recurring heavy gales, kept the heavy pack in constant 
motion, to and fro against the precipitous and rock-bound 
coast. Time and again only the most desperate efforts 
and measures secured the safety of the specially strength- 
ened launch, while the whale-boats escaped destruction 
only by speedy unloading and drawing-up on floes. 
Every cache, however small, was taken up, ending with 
damaged, mouldy bread, etc., at Cape Hawks. This 
point was made in 16 days, the distance of 200 miles 
along the shore-line being doubled by the devious route 
necessitated by adverse conditions of ice and weather. 
Beset and frozen-in while attempting to cross from Hawks 
to Bache Island, the party waited ten days for the ice to 
break up. Abandoning the launch, the party struggled 
with desperation 19 days before it could reach the shore 
that was only 13 miles distant when they started. How- 
ever, on 29th September a landing was effected half-way 
between Cape Sabine and Isabella, in health, with records, 
instruments and every essential or important belonging. 
But they were shelterless, shut in north and south by 
glaciers, and with small supply of food, despite constant 
seal-hunting during besetment. Some hunted on land, 
others on ice ; some put up stone huts, others searched 
for cairns and records. The winter quarters were barely 
finished, when scouts brought news of the Proteus, which 



238 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

had been crushed north of Cape Sabine, 23d July 1SS3, 
by being forced into the ice by Lieutenant E. A. Gari.im;- 
ton, commanding relief party. 

Garlington's record ran in part : ' Depot landed . . . 
500 rations of bread, tea and a lot of canned goods. 
Cache of 250 rations, left by expedition of 1882, visited 
by me, and found in good condition. English depot in 
damaged condition, not visited by me. Cache on Little- 
ton Island j boat at Isabella. U. S. S. Yantic on her way 
to Littleton Island, with orders not to enter the ice. . . . 
I will endeavor to communicate with these vessels at once. 
Everything in the power of man will be done to rescue 
the [Greely's] brave men.' 

It transpired that there was no boat at Isabella ; that 
Garlington's orders to replace damaged caches were im- 
perative and disobeyed ; that he had no knowledge that 
the Littleton Island cache was safe ; that at Sabine he 
took every pound of food he could reach, though told 
that Greely was provisioned only to August 1883 ; and 
that after Colwell's skill had brought Garlington safe to 
the Yantic he did not even ask Wilde to go north and 
lay down food for Greely, otherwise doomed to starvation. 

The drift experiences had demonstrated the impossi- 
bility of then crossing Smith Sound, and Greely turned 
to Sabine, expecting the promised relief that autumn. 
Glaciers were rounded, hills scaled, new ice traversed, and 
the 15th October saw the party on Bedford Pirn Island. 
Winter had begun, the polar night was imminent, clothing 
in rags, fuel wanting, and 40 clays' rations must tide over 
250 days, till help could come. The main party put up 
a hut of rocks, canvas, boat and snow-slabs, while se- 
lected men scoured the coasts for caches, sought land- 
game and watched seal-holes, until utter darkness drove 
all to the hut. Scientific observations were unremittingly 



The International Circumpolav Stations 239 

made, amusements devised, a spring campaign planned, 
and the returning sun found only one dead. Efforts to 
cross Smith Sound failed, and a hunting-trip to the west 
found a new (Schley) land, but no game. Finally game 
came, so inadequately that food failed, and one by one men 
died, — Jens seal-hunting and Rice striving to bring in a 
cache. Courage and solidarity continued ; and if Greely 
gave to the maimed Ellison double food while it lasted, 
he did not hesitate to order in writing the execution of a 
man, serving under an assumed name of Henry, who re- 
peatedly stole seal-skin thongs, the only remaining food. 
Flowers, plants, sea-weed and lichens eked out life for 
six, till 2 2d June 1884, when the relief ships Thetis and 
Bear, under Captain W. S. Schley and Commander W. 
H. Emory, rescued them. Records, instruments, and col- 
lections were saved to tell the story of an expedition that 
failed not in aught intrusted to it, and whose members 
perished through others. 

The relief squadron of 1884, fitted out under the per- 
sonal orders of the Hon. W. E. Chandler, Secretary of 
the Navy, passed the ' middle ice ' with the first whalers, 
their rivals ; and by their energy and daring rescued the 
remnant of the party during a violent gale. Schley's 
cruise threw into sad relief the incompetency of the pre- 
vious relief expeditions, but with him Colwell showed 
again his qualities by first reaching the dying survivors. 

The United States sent its second party to Point Bar- 
row, the northernmost point of Alaska, where in 71 16' 
n., 1 5 8° 40' w., Lieutenant P. H. Ray landed, 8th Sep- 
tember 1 88 1, with nine men. Friendly relations were 
cultivated and maintained with the Eskimo, 137 in all, 
who seek Point Barrow for sea game, their principal sub- 
sistence. With native aid Ray on several sledge-journeys 
made interesting geographic discoveries, reaching in the 



240 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

interior 69 55' N., 15 8° w., whence (Meade) mountains 
were seen to the south. He followed the east coast to 
71° oi' n., 1 54 32' w., discovering to the east of Dease 
Inlet a large river (Meade), which there empties by five 
mouths : the upper river is frequented by the Eskimo for 
the fish in its waters and the game in its stunted copses. 

On 25th June 1882, the whaler North Star arrived ; 13 
days later, crushed by ice, she sank opposite the station, 
leaving her crew of 47 practically destitute. Ray 
promptly extended all needed assistance until, five days 
later, the whaler Bowhead arrived. Lieutenant J. W. 
Powell visited the station 20th August 1882, in the Leo, 
bringing three men and taking away one. The last 
whaler passed south, 23d September 1882, and the first 
came north, 1st August 1883. Ray abandoned the station 
2 7th August, in the Leo, having carried out the interna- 
tional programme with marked success. The natural 
history collections were large and representative, and the 
ethnographic studies and collections, made and discussed 
by Murdoch, are interesting and important. 



Wild : Communications of the Lnternational Polar 
Commission (St Petersburg 1882-84) > Tromholt : Under 
the Rays of the Aurora Borealis, 2 v. (London 1885) ; 
Lanman : Farthest North ; Life of y. B. Lockwood 
(New York 1885); Greely : Three Years of Arctic 
Service, 2 v. (New York 1886). Official Reports, see 
Chapter xviii. 



No. IX. 




CHAPTER XVII 

GREENLAND 

CONTINENTAL Greenland, with its outlying islands, 
extends from north to south more than 1,400 
miles ; and along the 78th parallel from east to west, Capes 
Alexander and Bismarck are 900 miles apart. Cape Fare- 
well is seven degrees south of the Arctic circle, in the 
latitude of Stockholm, while Cape Washington is within 
six degrees of the North Pole. 

Greenland is an elevated plateau, ranging in the main 
from 2,000 to 7,000 feet above sea level. Its precipitous, 
rocky coast is broken by numerous intersecting fiords, 
which are, or have been, beds of the extensive projecting 
glaciers that thus debouch from the parent inland-ice. 
This permanent ice-sheet covers nine-tenths of Greenland, 
and attains an unknown thickness, possibly 3,000 feet. 

Three portions of the coast are inhabited. A band of 
Eskimo, the most northerly known inhabitants of the earth, 
live on the ice-free shores between Capes York and Alex- 
ander, entirely cut off by the surrounding ice-cap from 
communication with the outside world. They number 
some 270, and live very largely on sea game, although 
they were for many years without boats. 

In East Greenland, between Capes Bismarck and Fare- 
well, are scattered Eskimo tribes, numbering 600 souls 
or more, who reached their present habitat from the 
Parry archipelago by journeying around the north end of 
16 



242 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

Greenland through the strait (probably Nordenskiold 
Inlet) that separates the continent from the new northerly 
land discovered by the Lady Franklin Bay expedition. 

A few ruins mark the coming and passing of the first 
discoverers of South Greenland, who, almost pre-historic, 
were doubtless Norsemen ; when and how they vanished 
are themes of endless discussion. That they were numer- 
ous, European, and Christian, appears from Holm's inves- 
tigations in 1880, among the ruins of the Julianehaab 
district, of which there are 100 known groups, with the 
structures in each numbering from 1 to 30. Holm visited 
40 groups and 300 separate ruins ; among them were 4 
well-built stone churches, one being 26 by 65 feet in size, 
and certain graves had crosses and carved figures therein. 
Lieutenant D. Brunn's archaeological explorations of 
1894, in the same district, are likewise interesting and 
important. 

The discoveries along the well-known west coast bor- 
dering Davis Strait and West Greenland Channel are 
elsewhere recorded. 

The principal population of Greenland consists of the 
Danish Eskimo, 10,207, m 1892, who occupy the west coast 
from Cape Farewell as far north as Tasiusak, some 1,200 
miles. They are governed by a strict monopoly, a bureau 
of the Danish government, the Royal Greenland Board 
of Trade, which well subserves the interests of the natives 
through its excellent corps of chief-traders and assistants, 
who are under the eye of two officers, inspectors, vested 
with magisterial powers and responsible to the crown. 

East Greenland is but partly explored, largely owing to 
its inaccessibility. Hudson, 21st June 1607, sighted land 
at the 73d parallel. On the authority of Gerrit van 
Keulen's old chart, — good authority save that the latitudes 
are somewhat uncertain, — the following whalers visited this 



Greenland 243 

coast during the seventeenth century : Gale Hamke 
(1654), 74°.5 n.j Broer Ruys (1655), 73°.5 n.; Edam 
(1655), 7°° N - ■> an( i Lambert (1670), 78 . 5 n. 

The difficulty of approach to this coast, hemmed in 
by heavy ice and hidden by almost continuous fog, is 
shown by the fact that for more than 200 consecutive 
years its adjacent seas have been annually scoured by 
scores of daring and skilful whalers, who have made no 
material additions to the scanty and indefinite knowledge 
of the continental shore acquired in the 17 th century. At 
long intervals a glimpse of land here and there, between 
the 73d and 80th parallels, served to make the geography 
of Greenland less mythical ; but even at the beginning 
of the 19th century, the coast on the 75th parallel was 
laid down 14 degrees of longitude too far to the eastward. 

Among expeditions that contributed to a knowledge of 
the East Greenland coast the following may be very 
briefly recited. The Dane Dannell, in June 1652, skirted 
the ice-belt at a distance varying from 8 to 60 miles from 
64 50' N., southward to the vicinity of Cape Farewell. 
Han Egede, 1723, and Olsen Wallace, 1752, attempted, 
from the western settlements, to explore the coast by the 
use of Eskimo women-boats ; the former barely passed 
the 60th parallel, and the latter was stopped at Nenese, 
6o° 56' n. Volquard Boon, a Dutch whaler, in 1761 
discovered the bay named for him. Egede, the younger, 
in August 1786, and April-May, 1787, and L(J)wenorn in 
July 1787, followed the edge of the ice to the 66th 
parallel, but could not get within two miles of the coast. 
Blosseville, in the French ship Lilloise, sighted land 
29th July 1833, in 68° 34' n., and traced it to 68° 55' N. 
Haake, in July 1831, visited the coast near 74 n. The 
Scotch whaler, David Gray, in July 1868, discovered 
Scott's Inlet, 73 30' n. Between 7th and nth July 



244 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

1879, Captain YVandell in the exploring Danish steamer 
Ingot/ surveyed the coast from 66° N. to 69 N., but he 
could not approach nearer than six miles to the high 
mountainous and ice-clad land. 

The first real and important discoveries in East Green- 
land are those made in 1822 by one of the best known of 
the famous Scotch whalers, Captain William Scoresby, jr., 
who with his father had seen the coast in 1 8 1 7 and in 
1 82 1. On 8th June 1822, Scoresby was sufficiently near 
the land in the Baffin to enable him to sketch and chart 
it from Hold-with-Hope, of Hudson, 1607, in 73 30' n., 
to Gale Hamke Bay, 75° n., named for its discoverer in 
the Dutch whaler Orangebovn, 1654. 

In intervals of fishing, during June to August, Scoresby 
surveyed the land with great care and accuracy by astro- 
nomical and trigonometric observations on shore and at 
sea. The elder Scoresby, in the Fame, explored Scoresby 
Sound and other inlets. The son was indefatigable in 
acquiring knowledge regarding the land and adjacent sea, 
which fortunately was given to the world in his Voyage to 
the Northern Whale- Fishery. The coast, barren, rugged 
and mountainous, had an average elevation of 3,000 feet, 
and rose occasionally to 6,000. Frequent fiords indented 
the coast, and the depth of Scoresby Sound, named after 
the father, led Scoresby to erroneously believe that it 
bisected Greenland, — an opinion harmonizing with the 
existing theory about the country. 

Prodigious numbers of birds, — little auks, plover, red- 
pole, etc., were seen ; butterflies, mosquitoes and bees 
appeared ; horns of reindeer and bones of other animals 
were found. The recent presence of natives was indicated 
by ashes, sledge-runners, domestic implements, bone, iron- 
tipped arrows. Remains of the dead showed permanent 
residence, but one body in a wooden coffin evidently 



Greenland 245 

marked the passage of another race, — an ancierit Norse- 
man or a Dutch fisher. 

Geographically Scoresby's discoveries were greater in 
importance and number than those of any other single 
navigator in East Greenland waters. It was not that 
alone he surveyed and charted with unusual accuracy a 
coast some 800 miles in its windings, but that he entirely 
changed the geographic features of Eastern Greenland. 
On former charts the coast between the 69 th and 75 th 
parallels was laid down with a southwest trend, covering 
23 degrees of longitude from 5 to 28 w. Scoresby re- 
duced the longitudinal extent of East Greenland by nearly 
three-fourths, and determined the coast direction to be 
almost due north and south, between longitude 19 and 
25 ° w. His scientific work, done in the intervals of most 
successful whale-fishing, was so abundant, comprehensive 
and intelligent, that it may safely be said that no other 
save Nordenskiold has contributed so materially to a 
scientific and accurate knowledge of the Arctic regions. 

Captain Edward Sabine's great pendulum work of 1823 
comprised observations at the nearest possible points to 
the North Pole, and after visiting North Cape, Norway, 
and Hakluyt headland, Spitzbergen, with Captain Clav- 
ering, in the Griper, they turned their voyage to Green- 
land. Sabine landed at Pendulum Islands, 74 32' n., 
1 8° 50' w., in August 1823, and successfully carried out 
his scheme of pendulum work. Clavering skirted the 
coast by ship from Cape Parry, 72°.5 n., to Shannon 
Island, 75 12' n., whence the bold, mountainous shore 
was visible to the 76th parallel. By a boat journey of 
two weeks he also explored Gale Hamke Bay, and pene- 
trated an ice-fiord where there were discharging glaciers 
of immense size. To his intense surprise Clavering 
found that this desolate coast was inhabited. Twelve 



246 Handbook of Arctic Disco: cries 

Eskimo occupied sealskin tents on the beach, and the 
presence of graves indicated permanency of residence. 
Unacquainted with other races the natives suddenly re- 
treated after brief relations with Clavering's men. 
Doubtless these Eskimo reached East Greenland from the 
Parry archipelago, north of the continent of America, via 
Grinnell Land, Robeson Channel, northwest Greenland, 
Victoria, or Nordenskiold, Inlet (of Lockwood) and Inde- 
pendence Bay (of Peary) . 

Southeast Greenland was first visited by Lieutenant W. 
A. Graah, Danish Navy, who sought diligently and unsuc- 
cessfully for traces of the ' lost colonies ' of the Easter 
Bygd. Obliged to winter at Julianehaab, where he ex- 
amined the ruins of that coast, — now thought to be those 
he sought, — he passed Cape Farewell in April 1829, and 
going northward explored the east coast to the vicinity 
of Cape Dan. His farthest point, Dannebrog Island, 
65 16' n., was reached iSth August. Graah was the first 
one to chart with any approximate degree of accuracy the 
whole of the East Greenland coast from 6o° n. to 73 N. 
Graah met many natives who had never seen whites, 
established friendly relations and wintered among them, 
1829-30. As one result of this journey, traffic sprang up 
between the two coasts, and gradually the Eskimo are 
abandoning the more barren eastern coast. Graah's 
ethnographic and geographic work constituted the main 
stock of knowledge regarding southeastern Greenland for 
half a century, to the voyage of Holm, 1880. 

The next important contributions to knowledge are due 
to the second German North-polar expedition, which has 
been alluded to in Chapter xii. Captain Carl Kolde- 
wey commanded the expedition in the ship Germania, 
with the Hansa, Captain HEGEMANN. The fortunes of 
the Hansa are elsewhere described, that unfortunate ship 



Greenland , 247 

being separated from the Germania, through misunder- 
standing of a signal, was crushed by the ice, her crew 
escaping to Frederiksthaal, Greenland. • 

Koldewey forced his way in the Germania through the 
ice-stream, and at a favorable point, on 5th August 1869, 
anchored at Pendulum Island, where the expedition win- 
tered. Investigations showed that the Eskimo settlement 
of Clavering was abandoned, although remains disclosing 
long residence were found. 

Koldewey and Payer explored that autumn Fligely Fiord 
and Kuhn Island, in a journey of 133 miles. Other 
neighboring fiords and lands were visited, and in the 
spring of 1870 by sledge Koldewey and Payer reached, 
15th April 1870, 77 oi' n., the highest point ever at- 
tained by explorers of the east coast, but which was 
exceeded by Peary in his great ice-journey from West 
Greenland, when he reached Navy Cliff, 81 ° 38' n., 34 w. 

The most remarkable geographic discovery was made 
after the Germania was freed from the winter-ice. She 
entered Franz Josef Fiord, which penetrates inland far 
into Greenland, reaching five degrees of longitude to 73 
n' n., 25° 58' w. Its magnificence is set forth by Payer 
as a combination of ' huge walls, deep erosion fissures, 
wild peaks, mighty crevassed glaciers, raging torrents and 
waterfalls.' One rock rises 5,600 feet out of the sea, and 
Mount Petermann is some 12,000 feet high. 

In addition to these geographic contributions, the work 
of the German expedition resulted in an extremely im- 
portant series of scientific papers on Arctic subjects. 
These valuable scientific contributions form Volume ii. of 
the German account of the expedition, and do not appear 
in the English translation. 

Scientific explorations of value have been made by 
Giesecke, Hellands, Brown, Nordenskiold, and Rink. 



248 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

The pioneer work of Giesecke in geological investiga- 
tions of Greenland is notable and important. For seven 
years, 1806-18 14, he worked summer and winter pursu- 
ing his mineralogical researches, which covered the entire 
inhabited west coast, from 6o° n. to 73 N., and for nearly 
a century his results have formed the general basis of 
geological publications relating to Greenland. 

Especial interest has always attached to the question of 
the extent of the inland-ice, the name usually given to the 
ice-cap that covers the interior of all Greenland. This 
inland country has been pictured as consisting in part of 
extensive valleys, clothed with luxuriant vegetation which 
serves as pasturage for numerous reindeer, — an opinion 
that recent explorations have fully disproved. Occasion- 
ally ice-free areas, always barren and of limited extent, 
exist, which are called nunataks by the Eskimo, who be- 
lieve them to be the dwelling-place of people (Kivigtoks 
or sorcerers) fled from human society. 

These explorations fall naturally into two classes, the 
scientific and the adventurous. Several unsuccessful 
efforts have been made to cross Greenland from west to 
east, the most striking being that of Major Pars, in 1728, 
who attempted the journey with an armed mounted force. 
Efforts of Dalager, Rae, Brown, and Whymper to explore 
the ice-cap were likewise fruitless. 

The route of Dalager from Frederikshaab was followed 
again, 14th July to 5th August 1S7S, by Lieutenant 
J. A. D. Jensen, a Danish officer, who penetrated to a 
distance of 47 miles, to 62 50' n., 48 57' w. The ice 
was here 5,000 feet above the sea, but above it projected 
a series of nunataks, or uprising ice-free peaks, to which 
Jensen's name has been given. 

In 1870 Nordenskiold attempted to penetrate Green- 
land from the head of Auleitsivik Fiord. Abandoning 



Greenland 



249 



the sledges when the irregular ice made farther progress 
impracticable, the party proceeded on foot, carrying 
packs. The Eskimo finally refused to go farther, but 
Nordenskiold and Berggren went on until failing pro- 
visions necessitated their return. They were then over 
35 miles inland, at an elevation of 2,200 feet above the 
sea, when they saw a deep broad river flowing rapidly 
between the blue banks of ice. Followed some distance, 
the whole stream plunged down a perpendicular cleft to 
an unknown depth. Two ravens seemed the only signs 
of life, but the acute eye of the botanist, Berggren, dis- 
cerned a true ice-plant, a brown polycellular alga, while 
Nordenskiold discovered a gray powder, which he called 
kryokonite, a dust of cosmic origin. After this journey, 
the so-called meteorites were found at Mount Ovifak near 
Disco Fiord, and the greater number were brought to 
Sweden in 1871, the largest two weighing 20 and 9 tons 
respectively. 

Nordenskiold visited Greenland again in 1883, and 
made 15 marches on the inland-ice from Sofia Harbor, 
at the head of Aulaitsivik Fiord, south of Disco Bay. 
The route followed closely the mythical fiord, that was 
supposed to bisect Greenland, as charted on Egede's 
map, 1788. He camped 21st July in 48 15' w., at an 
elevation of 4,900 feet. Finding progress exceedingly 
slow, owing to crevasses and slopes, Nordenskiold sent 
his skilled Lapp ^/-runners to go as far as they could 
and return in a few days. These men travelled 140 miles 
up gradually rising ice to 68° 32' N., 42 51' w., where 
at an elevation of 6,600 feet the sea-cap still rose. In 
the light of Holm's explorations in East Greenland, it is 
now known that Nordenskiold thus reached by his Lapps 
a point nearer Egede or Sermilik Fiord, 66° 30' n., 38 
w., than to Sofia Harbor. Nordenskiold's success, 



250 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

greater than before attained, first made it evident that 
Greenland could be crossed, and was the forerunner of 
Nansen's crossing to the south and Peary's to the north. 
Nordenskiold then visited East Greenland, and with diffi- 
culty made King Oscar Harbor, Cape Dan, 65 35' N., 
37° 3°' w -> 4 tn September 1883, beyond Graah's farthest. 
Nordenskiold's hydrographic researches in the Spitz- 
bergen Sea were extensive and important. 

The first crossing of Greenland was made over the 
inland-ice by D r Fridtjof Nansen, who decided that the 
most practicable method was to be left on the east coast, 
when necessity would insure success. With five others, 
Nansen, after six weeks' fruitless efforts to reach the 
Greenland coast in a Norwegian sealer, attempted to land, 
17th July 1888, by boat at Cape Dan, 63 20' N., from 
which they were separated by an ice-stream ten miles 
wide. The two days set apart for forcing the pack passed, 
and they were still in the sea, beset and sweeping south- 
ward. It was not until 29th July, after bitter suffering 
and strenuous effort, that they made Anoritok, 62 05' n., 
near 200 miles to the southward of their contemplated 
landing. Following the shore northward and meeting 
natives, they commenced their ice-journey from Umivik. 
64 45' N., which they reached 10th August. 

In addition to the usual Alpine outfit, Canadian and 
Norwegian snowshoes, they carried instruments, food, fuel, 
sleeping-gear, and other supplies, a load of 1,200 pounds 
for their five sledges. Steep, irregular slopes, soft snow 
and dangerous crevasses so delayed progress, that by 27 th 
August, they were only 40 miles inland in 64 50' n., at 
an elevation of 7,000 feet. The lateness of the season 
constrained Nansen to shorten his journey and change his 
direction toward Godthaab, 64 n., instead of Christians- 
haab, 68° n., his original destination. 



Greenland 



251 



A broad fiat plateau, between 8,000 and 9,000 feet high, 
forms the crest of southern Greenland, the inclination to 
the west being gentler than the eastern ascent. Long 
distances were sailed over rapidly until the dangerous 
crevasses prevalent near the coast necessitated caution, 
and the rough irregular ice retarded progress. A journey 
of 260 miles brought them, 29th September, to Kanger- 
sunek Fiord, 50 miles south of Godthaab, whence assist- 
ance was obtained by means of a boat improvised of 
canvas, willows, and sledges. 

The crossing of Greenland by Nansen is justly regarded 
as a brilliant feat, in which the boldness of the plan was 
matched by the energy and endurance that overcame the 
physical difficulties. The journey proves that the same 
conditions of unbroken ice-cap obtain over extreme 
southern Greenland, as were disclosed by the explorations 
of Nordenskiold some 200 miles farther north. 

Denmark has done an enormous amount of exploration 
and investigation of the edges of the inland-ice, of its 
debouching glaciers, of its barren nunataks, of the fauna 
and flora of the ice-free coasts, which, supplemented by 
observations of climatic and hydrographic character, make 
Greenland a well-known country to the 75 th parallel on 
the west coast, and to the 66th on the east coast. On 
the west coast alone the area of the inland-ice region thus 
explored covers about 950 miles from north to south, with 
an average width of 24 miles, being about 2,250 square 
miles. This work has been done in a most thorough 
manner, a definite section being assigned each year to 
specialists suited to the work in hand. 

Rink, the best authority on Greenland, gives the fol- 
lowing summary of the fields covered, to include 1886 : 

K. J. V. Steenstrup (naturalist), with G. Holm (naval 
officer), and Kornerup (naturalist), traversed the district 



252 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

of Julianehaab, (6o°-6i° n.) in 1S76; in 1S77, with A. 
Jensen (naval officer), the Frederikshaab district (6i°- 
62 30' n.). In 1878, Steenstrup journeyed to North 
Greenland, where he spent two winters. In the same 
year Jensen, with Kornerup and Groth (draughtsman), 
travelled over the Frederikshaab and Godthaab districts 
(62°-64° n). In 1879, Jensen with Kornerup, and R. 
Hammer (naval officer), inspected the coast from 67 to 
6S.^°, after which Hammer passed the winter there. The 
summer of 18S0 found Steenstrup and Hammer in North 
Greenland, while G. Holm, Groth and Petersen (natur- 
alists) continued the exploration of the southern promon- 
tory of Greenland. In 1 88 1, Holm, with Svlow (natur- 
alist), visited again the country around Cape Farewell. In 
1883, Hammer, Sylow, and Larsen (naval officer) trav- 
ersed the west coast from 67 to 70 n. Holm, W. ( rAR] >e 
(naval officer), and Knutsen and Eberun (naturalist) 
undertook the journey to the east coast, which lasted till 
1885, and necessitated the establishment of winter quar- 
ters twice. Meanwhile Jensen, in 1884, followed the 
west coast from 65 J ° to 67 n., with Russ-CarsteNSEN 
(painter), while, at the same time, a cruise of the man- 
of-war Fylla was utilized for scientific purposes. In 1885, 
Jensen, Ryder (naval officer) and S. Hansen (anthropol- 
ogist) traversed this coast from 64^° to 65 i° n. Lastly, 
in 1886, Ryder Block (naval officer), and Ussing (nat- 
uralist) went to Upernivik (72-i°-75° n.), where the first 
two spent the winter, and the Fylla visited Davis Strait. 

These important explorations of both the western and 
eastern coasts pertain especially to the ice- fiords and bor- 
dering inland-ice, and are fully treated in MeddeMser om 
Grjnland. (See Chapter xviii.) 

The most important geographic work was that of Hoi M 
on the east coast, 1883-85. Lieutenant HOLM wintered 



Greenland 253 

on west coast of Greenland, 1883-84, and on 5th May 
1884, put to sea with seven hunters in kayaks, and his 
party of six transported in skin boats, rowed by 19 women 
and five men. Cape Farewell was rounded, and the dan- 
gerous and tedious journey northward along the east coast 
began. Often delayed by a close ice-pack crowded against 
the precipitious and glacier-faced coast, the expeditionary 
force passed the time as best they could, while the natives, 
especially the women, indulged in eating, drinking, smok- 
ing and merry-making. In Lindenows Fiord, 62 15', 
were impenetrable willow groves, while near this site of 
the only Scandinavian ruins on the east coast the shore 
was lined with driftwood. This coast was traversed by 
Holm and Knutsen to 66° 08' n. Five ice-fiords were 
discovered, and according to the reports of the natives 
there was another in 68° n. Icebergs in extraordinary 
numbers lined the coast, the largest about 260 feet high. 
Between 6o° and 63 n., Garde found nearly 200 glaciers 
reaching to the sea, of which 70 were a mile broad. 

In 1883, at the farthest reached, Kasingortok, provisions 
had been stored under charge of an Eskimo, Navfalik. 
They were found untouched in 1884. What honesty and 
self-denial these natives exhibited may be judged from 
the statement that their utmost endeavors barely furnish 
food for maintaining life. 

At Aneretok, they met natives who had once visited the 
west coast for trade purposes ; they had long, sleek, black 
hair, wonderfully-oval and European-like faces, but some 
of the women had fair hair. Seventeen days were con- 
sumed by delays at Karoakornak, between Capes Adelai 
and Ranzau, the point where Graah had such bad fortune 
in 1830. On 1 8th July, 19 of the Danish Eskimo insisted 
on returning. Proceeding to Tuigmiarmint Fiord, Holm 
sent Garde and Eberlin back to the west coast, which 



254 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

they safely reached in September, and himself wintei 
Angmagsalik, 65 ° 37' n., in 1884-85. The natives at this 
point had never seen Europeans before. There were 
eleven communities, aggregating 431 souls. There were 
548 natives south of the 68th parallel, and Clavering, as 
before mentioned, saw 1 1 in 74 05' n. 

In 1S91, an important Danish expedition under Lieu- 
tenant Ryder visited Northeastern Greenland. In July 
he reached the vicinity of Pendulum Islands, and landing 
at Cape Hold-with-Hope, wintered in Scoresby Sound, at 
Hekla Harbor, 70 27' n., 26 12' w. The inner fiords 
were explored 50 miles from the coast, so it is evident 
that these fiords extend inland farther than was supposed. 
Unfavorable ice-conditions prevented Ryder from getting 
south of 69 . Reaching Iceland 20th August 1S92, Ryder 
again revisited the East Greenland coast and landed, 10th 
September 1892, at Tasiussak, visited by NoRDENSKIOLD 
in 1883. Thence Ryder went north and visited Tasius- 
arsik, where Holm wintered 1884-85, and reached the 
most northerly inhabited point, Minatikii, Sermiligak Fiord, 
15 th September. From the mountain peak of Islet 
Ananak, it was seen that the mainland was ice-clad. The 
natives in 1892 occupied all settlements and numbered 
293 persons, a reduction of 221 since 1885; 114 of 
them had gone south, and 107 were dead. Ryder saw 
32 kinds of birds, 160 flowering plants, a few fishes, bears, 
foxes, reindeer, musk-oxen, hares, lemmings and seals. 

D r Drygalski, of the Berlin Geographical Society, win- 
tered on Nugsuak peninsula 1892-93, examined the gla- 
cier deposits and collected fossils ; he also measured the 
movement of the Karayak ice-stream. He believes that 
the motion and work of the ice-cap depends on the 
action of the solids and fluids composing it, particularly 
of the enormous quantity of water which permeates it. 



Greenland 255 

Charged with the survey of the Julianehaab district in 
1893, Lieutenant T. V. Garde ascended the inland-ice 
near Sermiatsialik fiord and crossed tolkersuak. About 
100 miles inland, in 6i° 54' n., the crest was passed at 
an elevation of 7,300 feet, the ice thence sloping to the 
east and northeast. 

The same summer R. Knudsen approached Blosseville 
Land, and saw no signs of the inland-ice at any place. 
The foreground between 29 12' and 39 50' w. was low, 
but between Cape Grivel and Nuna Isua, 68° n., where the 
land, projecting more decidedly to the south than appears 
by the Danish map of 1888, was very high and occasion- 
ally precipitous. 

The last and most important work on the East Green- 
land coast has been the establishment by the Danish 
government of a missionary, trade, and meteorological 
station at Angmagsalik, and the closing of that coast to 
other nations. This ensures the future welfare of these 
natives, under the same beneficial methods that have 
marked Danish sway in western Greenland. Captain 
Holm landed at Angmagsalik fiord 26th August 1894, and 
constructed for these purposes two buildings on the shores 
of King Oscar Harbor. 

The most brilliant work on the inland-ice is that of 
1VP R. E. Peary, U. S. Navy, who with a Dane, Maigaard, 
reached a point some 50 miles from the sea, near Disco, 
in 1886. Renewing his explorations in the Kite, Peary 
landed at M'Cormick Bay, August 1891, and most cour- 
ageously persisted in his work, although his leg was broken 
while crossing Melville Bay. A house was erected, but 
autumnal efforts to establish a cache at Humboldt glacier 
were futile. In 1892 Peary, able to travel, explored 
Inglefield Gulf in April, and then turned to the accumula- 
tion of stores at the edge of the inland-ice, some 15 miles 



256 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

distant. His main journey commenced 14th May, when 
the true inland-ice was reached, with 1 6 dogs and 4 sledges. 
He crossed the divide of 5,000 feet elevation, between 
Whale Sound and Kane Sea, and at a point 1 30 miles from 
M'Cormick Bay sent back Cook, who had supported 
him thus far with a man and two dog-sledges. Peaky 
proceeded with Astrup, and looked down into Pctermann 
Fiord, 31st May, but crevasses here and at St George Fiord 
obliged them to make a detour to the east and southeast. 
Finally, on 26th May, they reached the north edge of 
the inland- ice near 82 n., whence they looked to the 
north on the brown-red, comparatively ice -free land dis- 
covered by Lockwood in 1882. The fiord, into which 
they could not descend, doubtless connects with Norden- 
skiold Inlet of Lockwood, 1882, and Peary supports 
Greely's opinion of 1884, that Greenland here ends, and 
that the discovery of Lockwood is an entirely new land. 

Unable to go farther north, Peary turned to the south- 
east to make the east coast of Greenland ; and following the 
edge of the ice-cap, reached Independence Bay, 4th July 
1892, and climbed Navy Cliff, 4,000 feet high, 8i° 37' N., 
34 w. To the north was an ice- free land extending to 
the east some 50 miles, to 25 \v. longitude ; to the east 
and southeast, the East Greenland ocean was covered by 
disintegrating sea-ice. Five musk-oxen were killed, which 
relieved anxiety for dog-food on the homeward trip. 
The return journey to M'Cormick Bay, about 450 miles 
distant, was made almost in a straight line, the ice-divide 
proving to be 8,000 feet above the sea. 

Believing that even more extended discoveries could be 
made in northeast Greenland by again crossing its ice-cap, 
Peary, raising funds for the purpose by a series of lectures, 
established a station at Bowdoin Bay in 1893. With 8 
men, 12 sledges, and 92 dogs, he ascended the inland-ice 



Greenland 257 

6th March 1894, and in 13 days advanced 134 miles to an 
elevation of 5,500 feet. Stormbound by violent gales and 
extreme cold, Peary saw his dogs die and his men frosted, 
so that a general advance was impossible. Caching all 
surplus stores, principally pemmican, he sent back the 
disabled force, and with indomitable, but fruitless energy, 
marched on with three selected men. In 14 days he 
travelled only 85 miles, under extremely adverse condi- 
tions that finally obliged him to return with dying dogs 
and failing men. Abandoning sledges and caching pem- 
mican he reached Bowdoin Bay on 15 th April, with only 
26 living dogs of the original 92. 

Later Astrup, his chief support, sledged to Melville 
Bay and charted a considerable portion of its indefinitely 
located northeastern shore. 

When the visiting steamer Falcon arrived, in August 
1894, prudence demanded that the entire party should 
return to the United States. Food and fuel were insuffi- 
cient, more extended explorations were improbable, and 
arrangements for a visiting ship in 1895 were merely prob- 
lematical. With determination and courage bordering on 
rashness, Peary decided to winter at Bowdoin Bay, with 
two volunteers, Lee and Henson. 

Utilizing throughout the winter the entire resources of 
the region and gaining Eskimo recruits, Peary accumu- 
lated supplies on the inland-ice, and started northward 
2d April 1895, with his 2 men, 4 Eskimo, and 63 dogs 
drawing 6 sledges. The third march an Eskimo deserted 
with his outfit, but Peary, undiscouraged, pushed on. 
Most unfortunately the heavy snows had obliterated all 
landmarks, and the expected mainstay — the pemmican 
cache — could not be found. Failure now impended, but 
sending back his Eskimo allies, from this camp, 134 
miles inland and 5,500 feet above the sea, Peary con- 
J 7 



258 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

tinued his journey, 41 dogs dragging the 3 sledges. The 
temperatures ran from -io° to -43 , the elevation in- 
creased to 8,000 feet, travel was bad, sledges broke down, 
Lee was frosted, dogs died ; but Peaky persisted on his 
hopeless journey. Finally, with but 1 1 exhausted dogs, 
1 sledge, and a disabled man, Peary 8th May left Lee 
camped 16 miles from the coast, and with Hexson sought 
game ahead unsuccessfully for 4 days. Scant walrus-meat 
reserved could barely feed their dogs during the home 
journey ; but with desperate courage they advanced their 
camp to Independence Bay, Peary's farthest in 1892. 
The descent to the sea practically destroyed their sledging 
equipment; but 10 musk-oxen restored vigor to men and 
dogs. Farther game failing, with 9 dogs and food for 1 7 
days they turned homeward in a frantic race against 
starvation. Twenty-five forced marches, in which neces- 
sarily everything but food was abandoned, brought them 
in desperate condition, 25th June, to Bowdoin Hay, whence 
by the steamer Kite they reached Newfoundland 21st Sep- 
tember 1895. 

If Peary's advance beyond his buried cache was one of 
the rashest of Arctic journeys, yet the courage, fertility of 
resource, and physical endurance displayed by him and 
his companions place their efforts among the most notable 
in Arctic sledging. Other parties under less desperate 
circumstances have met with mortality, and only escaped 
total fatality by relief from their reserve party, which 
adjunct to Arctic exploration experience indicates to be 
essential to safety. 

The two crossings of Greenland by Peary must be classed 
among the most brilliant geographic feats of late years, his 
journeys far surpassing in extent that of his ice-cap prede- 
cessor, Nansen, who crossed Greenland more than 1,000 
miles to the south. Peary's efforts extended northward 



Greenland 259 

the east coast of Greenland, more than two degrees of 
latitude; and the increasing longitude of 15 degrees of 
the coast at Independence Bay tends to prove that Lock- 
wood's new land to the north of Greenland is of limited 
extent, as has been advanced by several geographers. 

The physical collections and observations enlarge the 
previously existing wealth of scientific data of western 
Greenland. Doubtless the most important scientific 
results derived from the Peary voyages are those con- 
nected with Professor Ghamberlain's examination of the 
glaciers of Inglefield Gulf, in which survey photography 
was freely used, and to great advantage. Geology must 
profit from this study of glaciers presenting such varied 
forms, especially as the unusually free exposure of struc- 
ture facilitated examination of vertical faces, convoluted 
and laminated formations. 

The most attractive additions to knowledge are the 
ethnological studies of the Cape York Eskimo, which 
in 1895 numbered 253, — 140 males and 113 females. 
These studies made by Peary, Lee, and D r F. A. Cook 
appear in a memoir forming an appendix to Peary : 
'Northward over the Great Ice,' 2 v. (New York 1S98), 
though very interesting details are scattered through the 
general narrative. 

In a summer voyage of 1896 Peary obtained and 
brought from the vicinity of Bushnan Island, east of Cape 
York, two large meteorites. The following year he was 
fortunate enough to be able to obtain and bring to New 
York City the largest known meteorite of the world. It is 
an irregular mass, with maximum measurements of 6, 7.6, 
and 1 1.2 feet, and weighs nearly 100 tons. 

In his North-polar expedition of 1900 (p. 179) Peary 
rounded on May 8 the northern point of the Greenland 
archipelago, in 830 39' n., about 30 w., and followed its 



260 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

northeastern coast to S3 n., 25 ° w. This journey prac- 
tically completes the outlines of Greenland, as there 
remain less than 300 miles of unknown eastern coasts of 
Greenland and Hazen Land. 

Of the Danish explorations, recorded in late years in 
the Medellelser, the most extensive and important are 
those of Lieutenant G. C. Amdrup, from 1898 to 1900. 
Beside magnetic and meteorological observations at Tasi- 
usak, 65 37' N., he definitely charted the ill-known 
coast-line as far north as 70 15' N. 

In a summer voyage, which was productive of important 
geological data, Nathorst visited in 1899 Kaiser Franz 
Josef Fiord. Important corrections were made in the 
maps of the regions adjacent to this fiord, which ends in 
2 7 30' w., and another extensive fiord (King Oscar) was 
discovered and explored. The sea being unusually ice- 
free in 1900, Naero in the Norwegian whaler Cecilie Malene 
reached 75 30' N. off Greenland, then the most northerly 
verified point on the east coast. This was exceeded in 
1905 by the Duke of Orleans, who attained 7S 16' N. in 
the Belgica. 

In a Danish exploration in 1902, M. Erichsex, by an 
inland ice-journey, via Sermilinguak fiord, reached a 
nunatak over 3,000 feet high. He discovered two ice- 
free mountain ranges near Evigheds fiord. Later the 
party went to Saunders Island in 1903 and returned by 
sledge journey to Upernivik in 1904, being the first to 
travel direct from Cape York. 

Separated from other lands by depths far greater than 
the height of its famous Beerenberg, isolated Jan Mayen 
Island — fog-enshrouded and ice-beset — pertains rather 
geographically to Greenland than to Spitzbergen, with 
which its history naturally connects it. 

The discovery of this island by Hudson, in 1607, is 



Greenland 261 

thus set forth in Edge's Briefe Discoverie : ' In ranging 
homewards he discovered an island lying in seventy-one 
degrees, which he named Hudson's Tutches.' As early 
as 1618 it appears from state papers that the English 
whalers frequented it, for they complain that ' Hudson's 
Touches and adjoining islands (Egg and Rocky Islets) 
had been claimed exclusively by the Hollanders. The 
Dutch held fast both to name and island, where a minia- 
ture Smeerenberg grew up, after a fatal attempt in 1634 
to establish a winter colony on Jan Mayen. 

This fatal wintering is not without a pathetic interest 
from the simple journal and plain narrative handed down 
to us. The intense winter cold, two months of sunless 
days, and biting gales were unflinchingly endured. The 
bright days of March had brought game, but also the 
dreaded scurvy. By 3d April only two of the seven were 
in health. Death claimed one and all in rapid succes- 
sion. The record ended 30th April, and the returning 
Dutch whalers on 4th June found the huts filled with un- 
buried dead. 

In 1 721 no less than 251 Dutch ships sailed in pursuit 
of whales. The value of the whale-fishery to Holland 
may be surmised from the fact that from 1680 to 1690 
her hardy mariners made 1,932 voyages, employing more 
than 100,000 men who caught 10,019 ^ sri - With the 
decadence of these fisheries Jan Mayen was left to its fear- 
ful desolation earlier than Spitzbergen, owing to the diffi- 
culty of approaching its fog-enshrouded borders where 
glacial cliffs and few harbors made navigation most 
perilous. 

A woman, Mary Muss of Rotterdam, established at Muss 
Bay the first boiling or reducing station. Later similar 
establishments, with tents, cooperages, and warehouses, 
were erected at seven convenient landing points. 



262 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

With the years Jan Mayen became merely a geographi- 
cal phrase, when it was brought to special attention by 
the visit and survey of a distinguished English whaler, 
William Scoresby, Jr., who gives an excellent account of 
his visit and survey of the island in 181 7. It appears 
from this account that Mt. Esk was an active volcano, the 
most northerly of the world. 

The most important expedition that ever visited the 
island is that commanded by Captain E. von WOHLGEMUTH, 
who there established the Austrian-Hungarian international 
polar station during 1 882-1 883. In the proceedings of 
this expedition (Wien, 1886, v. 1) appear admirable maps, 
a general description, and also an account of the glaciers of 
Jan Mayen by Lieutenant Adolf Bobrik, Austrian Navy ; 
and in addition, the valuable series of physical observations 
by other officers and scientists. 

In 1 89 1 M. Ch. Rabot, in Chateau-Renaucl landed on 
the unfrequented east coast, and explored Esk and Faskrud 
fiords, but in 1892 failed to effect a landing in the Manchc. 

Probably Jan Mayen is best known to English readers 
by the charming account given by Lord Dufferix, in 
Letters from High Latitudes, of his plucky visit in 1S56, 
when an exploring steamer, La Reine Hortense, failed to 
reach the island. Dufferin's description of his first sight 
of the famous Beerenberg is worthy of reproduction : 

' The heavy wreaths of vapor seemed to be impercep- 
tibly separating, the solid roof of gray suddenly split 
asunder, and I beheld through the gap, — thousands of 
feet overhead, as if suspended in the crystal sky, — 8 
cone of illuminated snow. The roof of mist closed again. 
At last . . . the brown changed to gray, the gray to white, 
and white to transparent blue at the horizon ; but an 
impenetrable veil hung suspended, behind which I knew 
must lie Jan Mayen. A few minutes more, and slowly, 



Greenland 263 

silently, in a manner you could take no count of, its dusky 
hem first deepened to a violet tinge, then, gradually lifting, 
displayed a long line of coast, — in reality but the roots 
of Beerenberg, — dyed of the darkest purple ; while, obe- 
dient to a common impulse, the clouds that wrapped its 
summit gently disengaged themselves, and left the moun- 
tain standing in all the magnificence of his 5,836 feet, 
girdled by a single zone of pearly vapor, from underneath 
whose floating folds seven enormous glaciers rolled down 
into the sea.' 



Egede : Description of Greenland (London 1745); 
Crantz : History of Greenland, 2 v. (London 1820); 
Graah : Expedition to East Greenland (London 1837) ; 
Etzel: Grbnland (Stuttgart i860); Rink: Tales of the 
Eskimo (London 1875) ; also, Danish Greenland 
(London 1877); Johnstrup : Giesecke's Miner alogiske 
Rejse i GrMand (Copenhagen 1878); Nordenskiold : 
Gronland (Leipzig 1886); Nansen : First Crossing of 
Greenland, 2 v. (London 1886) ; Holm: 0st Grbnland 
Expedition, 2 v. (Copenhagen 1888-89) > Meddelelser om 
Gronland, 30 v. (Copenhagen 1879-1906). 



CHAPTER XVIII 
ARCTIC BIBLIOGRAPHY 

AT the conclusion of each chapter have already been 
given lists of the more important works that may 
interest the general reader. Here will be very briefly 
considered sources of detailed information. 

The only attempt to compile a complete bibliography 
of the vast stores of Arctic literature is that of D r J. Cha- 
vanne, aided by D rs Karpf and Mommier, published under 
the auspices of the Royal Geographic Society of Vienna. 
The arrangement of this work, Die Literatur iibcr die 
Polar- Re gionen der Erde (Vienna 187S), is topical and 
geographic, and in its 6,617 titles are also included cir- 
cumnavigations and general works of travel. While it 
leaves much to be desired in fulness of detail, yet it is 
of decided value to all students of Arctic literature. 

The most comprehensive body of data relative to scien- 
tific polar work is that prepared by the Arctic committee 
of the Royal Society for the British expedition of 1875, 
and published by the Admiralty as a Manual of the 
Natural History, Geology, and Physics of Greenland and 
adjacent regions, 92 and 795 pp., 3 maps (London 1875). 

The Parliamentary Papers and Blue Books, which con- 
tain reports and journals of nearly every British Arctic 
expedition, 1803-18 76, comprise avast amount of infor- 



Bibliography 265 

raation (unfortunately not indexed) relative to the North- 
west Passage, Franklin Search, and explorations to the 
north of America. Brown, in Northwest Passage, gives 15 
titles of Parliamentary Papers and Blue Books pertaining 
to the Franklin Search alone. 

The most important of these books are as follows : — 

Blue Book : Arctic Expedition (Richardson and Rae ; 
Kellett, Herald; Pullen, Plover; Saunders, North 
Star; J. C. Ross, Enterprise and Investigator), 7th 
March 1850, 157 pp., map. 

Blue Books: (1, 2 and 3); Report, journals, and 
papers connected with investigation of Austin and Penny 
expeditions: (1) Report, 25th November 1851, 199 pp., 
2 maps; (2) Additional Papers, 22d October 1851, 368 
PP- j (3) Farther Correspondence (containing also, De 
Haven U. S. Expedition ; Rae, Wollaston Land ; John 
Ross, Felix ; Pullen, Boat Journey ; Hooper's Proceed- 
ings ; Collinson, Enterprise ; Proceedings, Plover and 
Daedalus) , 216 pp., 3 maps, 1852. 

Blue Book : Arctic Expeditions (Kennedy, Prince 
Albert ; Inglefield, Isabel; Moore, Plover), 20th Decem- 
ber 1852, 88 pp., 2 maps (n. d.). 

Blue Book: Papers (M'Clure, Investigator ; Belcher's 
squadron; Kellett, Resolute; Pullen, North Star; 
Maguire, Plover; M'Cormick's Boat Journey), 225 pp., 
5 maps, 1854. 

Blue Book: Farther Papers, January 1855 (Ingle- 
field, Phoenix ; Belcher, Assistance ; Kellett, Resolute ; 
M'Clure, Investigator ; Trollope, Rattlesnake ; Maguire, 
Plover, including Simpson's Western Esquimaux ; Collin- 
son, Enterprise ; Pullen, North Star ; Rae, Repulse Bay, 
first traces of Franklin's fate; Sledge journals of Bel- 
cher's squadron), 958 pp., 26 maps, 1855. 

Later have been published, Blue Book : Journals, etc., 



266 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

(Nares) Expedition, 1875-76,484 pp., 20 maps (1877) ; 
C. 1636; continuation of C. 1153, 1875; an< ^ C. 1560, 
1877. Report of Committee on Scurvy in the late 
(Nares) Arctic Expedition, London, 1877, lv, 505 p. 

Of special lists, by far the most complete and satisfac- 
tory is that of publications and charts relating to Alaska 
and adjacent regions, by W. H. Dall and Marcus Baker, 
in the Pacific Coast Pilot, Alaska, vol. i, U. S. Coast and 
Geodetic Survey (Washington 1S79). It comprises 3,832 
titles and sub-titles in eleven languages, and is simply in- 
valuable to any student of the Alaskan regions. 

As regards Greenland, the following works are extremely 
important : Grtfnlands historiske Mindesmerkcr, 3 v. (Co- 
penhagen 1838-45) j Meddelelser om Grfnland, 19 v. 
(Copenhagen 1879-1897). The Danish text of the latter 
work is in most volumes supplemented by a summary in 
French, while vol. xi, Rink, Eskimo Tribes, is in English. 
Vol. xiii, Lauridsen : Bibliographia Groenlandica, is espe- 
cially useful with its 2857 titles, rich in scientific works, 
which include almost every publication relating to the 
country. The principal contents are: Vol. i, — JENSEN, 
Kornerup, Lange, and Hoffmeyer, Inland-ice of Godthaab 
a?id Frederikshaab Districts, 1878; ii, — Steenstrup, 
Kornerup, Jensen, G. Holm, and Lorenzen, Geological 
Investigations Julianehaab, 1876, and of Egedesminde 
and Holsleneberg, 1879; iii, — J. Lange, C. JENSEN, 
Branth, Gr(J>nlund, Rostrop, and Kolderup, Rosenomge, 
Conspectus Flora? Groenlandica;, 4 parts; iv, — HAMMER, 
Steenstrup, and Lorenzen, Glacial, Geological, and 
Geographical Investigations in yacobshavn, Kittcnbenk, 
Umanak, and Upernivik Districts, 1878-80; v, — S11 BN- 
strup, O. Heer, and De Loriol, Cretaceous and Miocene 
Flora of West Greenland, 1S78-80; v (Supplement), — 
0. Heer, Greenland's Fossil Flora ; vi, — Wandel, Nor- 



Bibliography 26 J 

man, and G. Holm, Greenland East Coast and 'Juliane- 
haab Ruins, 1880-81 ; vii, Lorenzen, R({>rdam, Wandel, 
Lundbeck, and S. Hansen, Mineralogy of Greenland, Hy- 
drography Davis Strait, Entomology and Anthropology of 
West Greenland, etc. ; viii, — Hammer, Jensen, Ryder, 
Lange, Warming, Th. Holm, R<J>rdam, Rink and Carl- 
heim GyllenskkJjld, Investigations in Disco Bay, Holsten- 
borg, Sukkertoppen, Godthaab, and Upernivik Districts, 
1883-87 ; ix-x, — G. Holm, V. Garde, Knutsen, Eberlin, 
Steenstrup, S. Hansen, Lange, Rink, Villaume-Jantzen, 
and Crone, East Greenland Investigations, 1883-85 ; 
xi, — Rink, Eskimo Tribes ; xii, — E. Warming, Green- 
land Vegetation ; xiii, — Lauridsen, Bibliographica Groen- 
landica ; xiv, Flink, Petersen, et al., Mineralogy of 
Egedesminde and Julianehaab Districts ; Hartz, Jensen, 
etal., Flora of W. Greenland, Mosses of E. Greenland ; 
xvi, Garde et al. Expedition to fulianehaab District, 1893 ; 
xvii-xix, Ryder, Hansen et al., East Greenland Expedi- 
tion, 1891-92; xx, not seen; xxi, Winge, Greenland 
Zoology ; xxii, Schult-Lorentzen, Dialect Studies E. and 
W. Greenland, Engel, Scientific Observations, Jacobs- 
havn ; xxiii, not seen ; xxiv, Geographical and Geological 
Studies ; xxv, Porsild, Disco Vegetation ; xxv, not seen ; 
xxvii, Amdrup, East Greenland Explorations, 1 898-1 900 ; 
xxviii-xxx, not seen. 

Brown in Northwest Passage (p. 164) ; Greely in 
Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, v. ii, and Leslie in 
Nordenskiold's Voyages (p. 68) give many titles of 
scientific interest. 

Of Arctic scientific works, the following are only a few 
out of the many : Richardson & Swainson : Fauna 
Boreali- Americana, 4 v. (London 1836) ; Nordenskiold 
et al. : Studien und Forschungen (Leipzig 1885), and 
Wissensch'dftlichen Ergebnisse der Vega- Expedition (Leip- 



268 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

zig, n. d.) ; Wissenschaftlichen Ergebnisse 2d. Deutsche 

Nordpolarfarht, 1869-70 (Leipzig 1874) ; Smithsonian 
Contributions to Knowledge (Washington) : Observations 
in die Arctic Seas, — No. xi, Kane's Meteorological ; 
No. xiii, M'Clintock's Meteorological; No. xv, Hayes's 
Physical ; Gaimard : Voyage en Islande et ait Greenland, 
1835-36 (Paris 1838-51), 7 vols, and 4 atlases ; Gaimakd : 
Voyages en Scandanavic, en Laponie (au Spitzberg 1S38- 
40, Paris 1843-48), 16 vols, and 6 atlases. 

Among the most important and extended individual 
publications relating to Arctic matters are those of Pro- 
fessor O. Heer. Based on Arctic fossils, principally from 
Greenland, Spitzbergen, and Nova Zembla, they tell the 
story of enormous climatic changes, outline the develop- 
ment of the vegetable kingdom and its distribution over 
the earth's surface. The principal titles are Flora Fossila 
Arctica, 7 v. (Zurich 1868-80) ; Flora Fossila Gron- 
landica, 2 v. (Zurich 1882-83). 

The series entitled International Polar Scientific Pub- 
lications constitute by far the greatest collection of sci- 
entific Arctic data and related memoirs extant. They 
number 31 quarto volumes, devoted almost entirely to 
observations and their discussions. As these publications 
are not well known, their titles are given : Wohlgemuth : 
Osterreichische Polarstation Jan Mayen, 3 v. (Wien 
1886); Paulsen : Expedition Danoise, Godthaab, 2 v. 
(Copenhagen 1889-93); Dawson: Fort Rae (Great 
Britain) (London 18S6); Lemstrom & Biese : Expedi- 
tion Polaire Finlandaise, 3 v. (Helsingfors 1 886-8 7) ; 
Hyades, Lephay, Cannellier, et al. : Mission Scienti- 
fique du Cap Horn, 8 v. (Paris 1885-91) ; Neuma.1 I R ^V' 
Borgen : Beobachtungs- Ergebnisse der Deutsche Stationen, 
2 v. ; I., Kingua Fjord ; II., Siid-Georgien (Berlin 1886) ; 
Snellen & Volck : De Nederlandschc Pool- Expedi tie 



Bibliography 



269 



(Utrecht 1886) ; Steen: Der Norwegischen Polarstation 
Bossekop in Alien (Christiania 1888) ; Andrejeff & 
Lenz : Beobachtungen der Russischen Polarstation auf 
Nowaja Semla, 2 v. (St Petersburg 1886-91) ; Lenz & 
Eigner : Beobachtungen der Russischen Polarstation an der 
Lenamunding, 2 v. (St Petersburg 1886-95) > Ekholm 
et al. : Observations par V Expedition Suedoise, Cap 
Thorsden, 2 v. (Stockholm 1885-89, 1891-94) ; Greely, 
Schott et al. : Proceedings of United States Expedition to 
Lady Franklin Bay, 2 v. (Washington 1888) ; Ray, Schott 
et al. : Report of [United States] Expedition to Point 
Barrow (Washington 1885); Murdoch: Ethnological 
Results of the Point Barrow Expedition (Washington 
1892, in 9th Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology). 

Co-operative Observations 

Solander : Observatio?is du Magnetisme a Upsala 
(Stockholm 1893). 




No. X. 



ANTARCTIC REGION 




0I03H 01 











PART TWO 
ANTARCTIC DISCOVERIES 

CHAPTER XIX 

THE ANTARCTIC REGIONS IN GENERAL 

UNTIL the end of the nineteenth century there had 
not been sufficient advances in the exploration of 
the area within the Antarctic Circle to merit extended 
recognition of the subject as a whole, although isolated 
efforts and results were of importance. The reasons for 
this seeming discrimination against the South-polar regions 
are not difficult of justification. 

The lands within the Arctic Circle are not alone con- 
tiguous to powerful and enterprising nations, but are also 
so favored by climate and soil as to present suitable con- 
ditions for animal and plant life. Indeed Arctic Europe, 
Asia, and America present large habitable districts where 
human activities afford life environments not altogether 
harsh or unattractive. In addition the northern seas, 
filled with abundant life, furnish subsistence and wealth to 
thousands of daring men who yearly seek their accessible 
waters. 

At the other pole of the world we find the Antarctic re- 
gion to be the true land of desolation ; forbidding, in- 
accessible, and uninhabitable. Its northern confines and 
surroundings are largely oceanic, so that freezing temper- 
atures, fierce snow-blizzards, and other winter-conditions 
are not unusual in midsummer. While in high latitude 



272 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

near the South Pole there are extended lands, and doubt- 
less a continent, yet these are sterile areas, overlaid with 
ice-coverings of vast extent and enormous thickness. It 
is doubtful if one per centum of Antarctic lands is ever 
ice-free, so that ordinary forms of land-life are absolutely 
wanting. Not only are human inhabitants unknown south 
of Cape Horn, more than 2,300 miles from the Pole, but, 
except sea-forms, within the circle animal life and vegetable 
life are practically absent save a few low forms of hardy 
lichens and mosses. No plant life gladdens the eye, and 
even the hum of insects is unheard, the terrestrial fauna 
consisting of wingless insects. Sea-life is more abundant 
than in any other ocean, the higher forms being whales, 
seals, and birds, — skuas, penguins, and petrels, — but 
owing to distance and danger their pursuit and capture 
are no longer remunerative. 

The geographic evolution of the South-polar world has 
passed through three distinct phases : first, imaginative 
and exaggerated construction ; second, casual examination 
and abandonment ; and lastly, accidental rediscovery, fol- 
lowed by carefully planned explorations and thorough sci- 
entific research. 

One of the results of Magellan's voyage of 1520 was 
the reconstruction of world maps in conformity with the 
widely increased knowledge of the age. Fact and fancy 
then played not unequal parts in many geographical works, 
a practice not unknown to-day. Among other discoveries 
by extension and inference at the end of the mediaeval 
age are those of Ortelius, who in his Typi/s orb is ter- 
rarum, 1570, first charted the mythical Magellanic Con- 
tinent under the inscription Terra australis noti dum 
cognita. This southern land was represented as covering 
the entire globe beyond the forty-fifth parallel of south 
latitude. In the region of Magellan Strait Tierra del 



The Antarctic Regions in General 273 

Fuego was considered part of an unexplored continent, 
which was extended near the Javan archipelago as far 
northward as latitude 15 ° s. 

Sir Francis Drake in 1577 rounded Cape Horn, mak- 
ing Tierra del Fuego not only a separate archipelago, but 
also for two centuries ' the uttermost part of the land 
towards the South Pole.' 

Wytfliet in 1598 says of the most northerly extension : 
'The Australis Terra, the most southern of all lands, 
begins at one or two degrees from the equator, and is 
ascertained by some to be of so great an extent that if it 
were thoroughly explored it would be regarded as a fifth 
part of the world.' 

Even Tasman's discovery of Tasmania in 1642 only 
pushed the land southward without destroying faith in 
its existence, and Kerguelen-Tremarec in 1772 consid- 
ered Kergueden Island in 49 n., 70 e., as part of the 
mythical continent. 

The geographic importance of the problem was set 
forth in the stirring dedication of Dalrymple 's Travels, 
1770: 'To the man who, emulous of Magalhaens and 
the heroes of former times, (undeterred by difficulties and 
unseduced by pleasure,) shall persist through every ob- 
stacle, and, not by chance but by virtue and good con- 
duct, succeed in establishing an intercourse with a southern 
continent.' 

To the great navigator James Cook was entrusted the 
solution of the mystery of the Magellanic Continent, and 
he prosecuted the search with the skill and assiduity that 
marked all his voyages, with the Adventure (Captain Fur- 
neaux) and Resolute. Sailing from Cape of Good Hope, 
Cook (22d November 1772) sought in vain the reported 
land of Bouvet in 54 15' s., 6° 1 1' e., really in 54 26' s., 
3 24' e. Turning southeast, Cook was the first to cross 



274 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

the Antarctic Circle, attaining 67 15' s., 3 8° e., whence, 
forced back by an impenetrable ice-pack, he returned to 
New Zealand, after a voyage of 177 days and 1 1,000 miles, 
without discovering land. It is unlikely that he saw the 
ice-barrier, but tabular bergs 60 feet high and two miles in 
circumference disclosed the fearful magnitude of Antarctic 
ice previously unsuspected. 

In November 1773, Cook renewed from New Zealand 
his southern work with a single ship, the Adventure, cross- 
ing the Antarctic Circle 20th December in 147 w. and 
being obliged to recross from 67 31' s., 142 54' w. 
Following a zigzag course, he again passed it, 26th January 
1774, reaching 71 io' s., 106 54' w. 

It is interesting to note that his Antarctic latitude prac- 
tically coincides with his Arctic northing (p. 82), 71 08' 
N., thus giving him credit for the nearest approach to the 
two poles. The conditions which necessitated his return 
are of special interest. Before him was a compact ice- 
field, ranging east and west, from which mountains of ice 
rose in various places to a height far beyond what had 
ever been seen. 

In January 1775, he discovered the Sandwich group, 
of which Thule Island, 59 14' s., 27 45' \v., was then 
the most southerly known land. 

Cook's Antarctic achievements would be remarkable in 
this day, and can only excite the greatest admiration as 
done under sail. He had circumnavigated the Southern 
Ocean, surpassed by 600 miles the highest latitude of his 
predecessors, crossed the Antarctic Circle at four widely 
separated points, demonstrated south of the 56th par- 
allel, previously the most southerly region, the non- 
existence of land to the very borders of the circle, and 
disclosed the existence of ice-conditions on a scale of 
magnificence and importance hitherto unsuspected. He 



The Antarctic Regions in General 275 

said : ' We saw ice-mountains, whose lofty summits were 
lost in the clouds. I was now fully satisfied that there 
was no Southern Continent.' 

Cook was in a measure justified in his opinion that he 
had put ' an end to the search for a southern continent, 
which had engrossed the attention of the maritime nations 
for two centuries.' In fact, he had only postponed the 
search for half a century, and was destined to be surpassed 
in general Antarctic explorations by his immediate suc- 
cessor, a distinguished Russian seaman. 

Bellingshausen sailing in 18 19, with Lazareff in the 
Vostok and Mirny, far surpassed Cook in extent of 
Antarctic work, although not equalling his latitude by 
17 miles. Bellingshausen not only circumnavigated the 
globe to the south of the 60th parallel, but also traversed 
70 degrees of longitude within the circle, which he en- 
tered at six widely separated points: 2° 15' e, 69 21' 
s. ; 1 8° e., 69 06' s. ; 41 e., 66° 53' s.j 162 w., 
67 30' s. ; 120 w., 67 50' s. ; 92 io' w., 69 53' s. 

His intrepidity and perseverance under adverse condi- 
tions of ice and weather resulted in important contributions 
to our knowledge of southern seas, and restricted materi- 
ally the possible limits of continental land. He also has 
the honor of first discovering land within the Antarctic 
Circle, — Peter I. Island in 90 w., and Alexander I. Land 
in 73 w. 

The rediscovery of the South Shetlands by William 
Smith in 18 19, and the extension of whaling grounds to 
the southern seas, disproved the belief that the South- 
polar regions were only ocean and ice. In 1820 a sharp- 
eyed American sealer, N. B. Palmer, discovered and 
visited Palmer Land, which stretches southward far into 
the Antarctic Circle, — a region of great if not continental 
proportions, through extension in one direction to the 



276 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

Longstaff mountain-range of Scott in South Victoria 
Land, and in the other to Wilkes Land. 

Since the introduction of steam power in ships, the 
facilities for fuller explorations have been utilized, so that 
data, somewhat scanty, exist for the outlining of the 
regions as a whole. 

Among distinguished scientists who have attempted to 
solve this indeterminate equation, Sir John Murray, of the 
Challenger, is the most advanced and definite. Basing 
his conclusions on a study of sediments from the southern 
sea, he outlined nearly a score of years since a new south- 
ern continent, christened Antarctica. While the limits of 
this triumph of constructive geography will be somewhat 
modified by subsequent explorations, yet few attentive 
Antarctic students doubt its general probability. The 
southward extension of Palmer Land on the east by 
Larsen and on the west by Gerlache, the discovery of 
Gausberg by Drygalski, and Scott's extensive additions 
of King Edward Land, of 800 miles of mountain-ranges 
from 74.5 ° to 83 s., and of the westward plateau of 
South Victoria Land, several hundred miles wide at 
least, — all tend to substantiate the scientific deductions 
formulated by Murray. 

Of the past history of Antarctica the scientists are as 
yet unable to speak definitely. It is clear that the super- 
imposed ice-sheet, even now the vastest aggregation of 
ice in the world, was in past ages several thousands of 
feet thicker than at present. Geologically, the gneisses, 
granites, and dolomites indicate a continental land, and 
carbonaceous strata point to marked climatic changes. 

The most marvellous discoveries are the many volcanoes, 
some yet active, which dot the scattered known lands. Yet 
it is of interest to note that the silent, ceaseless, and feeble 
forces which create and maintain the ice-cap are more 



The Antarctic Regions in General 277 

potent in shaping the physical- history of Antarctica than 
are the violent, intermittent, and seemingly irresistible 
outbursts of volcanic action. 

The most convenient topical method of treatment of 
Antarctic explorations in detail is by means of quadrants ; 
and for this purpose the nomenclature suggested by D r F. 
A. Cook, of the Belgica, is closely followed, as of special 
geographical simplicity. The area from the longitude of 
Greenwich to 90 w. is called the American Quadrant ; 
from 90 w. to 180 w., the Pacific Quadrant; from the 
longitude of Greenwich to 90 e., the African Quadrant ; 
and from 90 e. to 180 e., the Australian Quadrant. It 
is to be observed that the quadrants are located south of 
the respective continents and the ocean after which they 
are named. 



Cook: Voyage towards the South Pole, 1 772-1 775 
(v. ed.) ; Dumont D'Urville : Voyage an Pol Sua 1 , 1837- 
1840, 29 v. (Paris 1841-1845) ; Bellingshausen: Two 
Voyages of Exploration in the Antarctic Ocean, 1819— 
1821 (in Russian, St. Petersburg 1831) ; Rainaud : Le 
Continent Austral (Paris 1893); Fricker : Antarctic 
Regions (London 1900); Neumayer : Auf zum Sudpol 
(Berlin 1901) ; Murray: The Antarctic Manual (Lon- 
don 1901) ; Balch : Antarctica (Philadelphia 1902); 
Mill: Siege of the South Pole (New York 1905). 



CHAPTER XX 

THE AFRICAN QUADRANT 
[From the longitude of Greenwich to 90 E.] 

THE beginning of explorations in this quadrant is 
doubtless due to Charles de Brosses, who in his 
Histoire des Navigations aux Terres Australes predicted 
that ' the most celebrated of modern sovereigns will be 
he who gives his name to the Southern World.' 

Influenced by national pride, the French government 
sent, in 1772, two vessels to the Pacific under Lozier- 
Bouvet, who was to visit the Southern Continent en route. 
In his voyage he passed through 50 degrees of longitude 
south of the fiftieth parallel. He found no continent, but 
he discovered Bouvet Island, 54 15' s., 3 24' e., and saw 
tabular icebergs as high as 300 feet and three leagues in 
circumference. His fellow countryman, Marion-Dufresne, 
in the same year discovered the Marion and Crozet Islands, 
between 46 and 47 s. Still another French expedition, 
in 1772, under Kerguelen-Tremerac, discovered Ker- 
guelen Island, 49 40' s., 69 30' e., which he reported to 
be land of considerable extent ; but on his second voyage 
with colonists it proved to be a small, desolate island. 

The voyages of Cook in this area have been already 
mentioned, they being important as indicating the absence 
of any extended land in this vicinity between the fiftieth 
parallel and the Antarctic Circle. It will be recalled that 
he reached, in 1772, 67 15' s., 38 e. Bellingshausen, 
in his great voyage of 131 days in 1820, practically fol- 
lowed the Antarctic Circle through the whole quadrant, 



The African Quadrant 279 

traversing 87 degrees of longitude to the south of the 
sixtieth parallel. Sailing 16 degrees of longitude within 
the circle, he reached, 6th February, 69 06' s., 16 e., and 
on 14th February, 66° 53' s., 41 E. Very heavy ice was 
seen, one berg by sextant measurement being from 375 to 
408 feet high, and so over 2,000 feet in thickness. 

A notable expedition is that of John Biscoe with the 
brig Tula and cutter Lively, owned by the Enderby 
brothers, which, though starting from the Sandwich Islands 
in the American Quadrant, did important work in the Afri- 
can Quadrant by crossing the Antarctic Circle in 1° e., on 
22d January 1831, and reaching 69 s., io° 43' e., six 
days later. Biscoe skirted the ice-pack for six weeks, now 
in and now out of the Polar Sea, and on 25 th February 
evidently approached the so-called Ice-Barrier, which 
was visible for 30 or 40 miles. The ice-cliffs, he says, 
were as high as, and similar to, the North Foreland, run- 
ning ' away to the southward with a gradual ascent, with 
a perfectly smooth surface [with] humps which had the 
appearance of land from the irregularity of their surface.' 

On 28th February Biscoe saw on the southern horizon 
hummocks which later he ' clearly distinguished to be 
land [named Enderby by him], and to considerable 
extent . . . being the black tops of mountains showing 
through the snow ... a great distance off [30 miles], 
completely beset with close field-ice and icebergs.' He 
named it Cape Ann, and approximately located it in 
66° 25' s., 49 18' e. Driven away by a southeasterly 
gale, nearly wrecked, his consort missing, yet he strove 
again for the land, which was neared 16th March, and a 
high mountain near Cape Ann was then seen. The land 
inaccessible, his crew sick, gales frequent, winter approach- 
ing, and the Tula a mass of ice wherever spray could 
reach, Biscoe abandoned his explorations, having traversed 



280 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

in his small brig nearly 90 degrees of longitude south of 
the sixtieth parallel of latitude. Biscoe renewed his voyage 
later, as described in the American Quadrant. 

R. H. Mill tells us that a British sealer, Kemp, equipped 
by Enderby brothers in 1833, discovered signs of land in 
66° s., 5 8° to 6o° e., which was called Kemp Land. 

The next expedition in this area, for the purpose of 
making magnetic observations to supplement those of 
Ross in the American Quadrant, was made by Lieut. 
T. E. L. Moore, R. N., in the barque Pagoda. Unable to 
find Bouvet Island in its assigned position, and proceeding 
southeast, he was turned back by an unbroken ice-pack in 
67 50' s., 39 41' E. In 82 days he traversed 98 degrees 
of longitude to the south of the sixtieth parallel, and 
more icebergs were seen than in the three Antarctic trips 
of the Erebus and Terror. 

On 7th March, 1844, in 64 s., about 49 e., Moore 
saw a high ridge, which ' was more like land than anything 
seen during the voyage, and there was no doubt about it ; 
but we could not say it was land without having really 
landed on it.' 

The march of science next turned attention towards 
the African Quadrant, when the Challenger, under com- 
mand of Captain G. S. Nares, R. N., began its voyage 
for physical and biological explorations of the depths of 
the sea. Captain Nares had a distinguished civilian staff 
of such men as C. Wyville Thomson, N. N. Mosklkv, John 
Murray, J. Y. Buchanan, and von Willemoes Slum. In 
order to investigate the Antarctic marine fauna the Chal- 
lenger proceeded, via the Marion, Crozet, Kergueden, and 
Heard Islands, which were visited, except the Crozets, 
where bad weather prevented landing. 

The Challenger was the first steam-vessel to cross the 
circle, reaching 66° 40' s., 78 22' e., on 1 6th February 



The African Quadrant 281 

1874. Later she was within 15 and 20 miles of Termina- 
tion Land, but saw nothing of it in fine clear weather. 
In 18 days south of the sixtieth parallel she passed through 
22 degrees of longitude. 

Though the Challenger barely entered the circle, yet 
her researches contributed in an unparalleled degree to 
our knowledge of the South-polar regions. Murray, in 
his admirable Results of the Challenger Expedition, shows 
that 90 species of animals unknown to the tropical 
oceans are common to the northern and southern seas. 
Meteorologically, Murray and A. Buchan have demon- 
strated that high barometric pressures cover the ice-clad 
lands around the South Pole. The dredge-nets were filled 
with a wealth of marine fauna unequalled in any other part 
of the world. In addition they gathered glaciated rock- 
fragments, — granites, quartzites, gneisses, sandstones, and 
mica-schists, which tell the story of the foundations of 
Antarctic lands, since these rocks are not found in oceanic 
islands. They prove conclusively the existence of a south- 
ern continent properly called Antarctica by Murray, which 
the discoveries of Palmer, Ross, Wilkes, D'Urville, and 
others (especially Scott) show to be almost entirely buried 
under glacial formations, from which projects here and 
there a solitary nunatak, or a few miles of favored beach. 

Under C. Chun and G. Schott, the German scientific 
deep-sea expedition of 1898, in the Valdavia, commanded 
by Krech, did valuable work. Geographically it located 
in 54 26' s., 3 24' e., Bouvet Island, which had not been 
seen in 75 years. This island had been vainly sought 
by Cook, Ross, and Moore, the latter two passing respec- 
tively within 18 and 15 miles of it. The Valdavia found 
very great depths, averaging about 3,000 fathoms, there 
being 2,540 fathoms on 16th December 1898, at her far- 
thest, 64 15' s., 54 20' e., within 102 miles of Enderby 



282 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

Land. The maximum sounding of 3,134 fathoms dis- 
closed the deepest known water in the South-polar Seas. 
At this point 1S0 bergs were seen together, one ten miles 
long and another 190 feet high. The dredge-nets showed 
continental rocks, — granites, schist, and red sandstone. 

The last expedition, under E. von Drygalski, was also 
scientific and under the auspices of the Emperor of Ger- 
many. It was largely the outcome of 40 years of effort 
by Professor G. Neumayer to stimulate Germany to scien- 
tific Antarctic work. Neumayer was responsible for the 
resolution unanimously adopted by the Sixth Geographical 
Congress of London, in July 1895, that an investigation 
' of the Antarctic regions is the greatest piece of geo- 
graphic exploration to be undertaken.' 

Drygalski sailed in the Gauss in 1901, with Van- 
hoffen, E. Philippi, and F. Bidlingmaier as scientific 
assistants, and visited Possession (Crozet group), Heard 
(Macdonald group), and Kergueden Islands. A scientific 
station was established on Kergueden, which was unfortu- 
nately broken up by fatal diseases. Two fruitless attempts 
of the Gauss to get south disclosed the non-existence of 
Termination Land in its assigned position. 

21st February 1902, the soundings suddenly shallowed 
from 3,300 to 250 fathoms, and the next day there rose above 
the southern horizon an entirely ice-clad land, with a high 
vertical ice- front to the sea. Efforts to trace the land 
westward toward Kemp Land terminated the first night 
in the besetment of the Gauss which lasted a year. 
Sledge journeys from September until May were made 
under unusual difficulties of prolonged blizzards and low 
temperatures. In five months' sledging, ice-free Gauss- 
berg, from which they were distant 46 miles, and 
ice-clad Kaiser Wilhelm II. Land, of which it forms a 
part, were carefully explored. From a balloon Drygalsh 



The African Quadrant 283 

saw that the land was of considerable importance and en- 
tirely ice-covered. It extends along the Antarctic Circle 
from 87° E. to 94 e., broadening to the southward of the 
circle. High land to the east is possibly detached by an 
inlet from the main area of Kaiser Wilhelm Land. 

Drygalski says that the scientific researches show the 
steep fall from land to a deep sea ; land structural rocks 
of old crystalline ; a continental margin with molten 
gneisses in the lava of its volcanic formations ; mosses and 
lichens in its petrel rookeries, and marine bacteria in 
glacial organisms. As to the ocean bottom, soundings 
resulted in 'the demonstration of a trough over 4,500 
metres deep, running between the Crozet Islands and 
Kerguelen, and connecting the abysses of the Indian Ocean 
with a deep ravine on the outer edge of the Austral sea.' 

Most important, however, are the results relative to the 
South-polar continent. Drygalski says : ' He has dis- 
covered a new land, and cleared up a contested question 
regarding the Antarctic continent, for over ten degrees of 
longitude, certainly for about half of the debated region 
between Knox and Kemp Lands.' 

The view of the inland ice from the balloon • suggested 
the notion of boundless space and . . . the winds which 
blew from the inland ice by their Fohn properties pointed 
at a far-reaching, uniformly ice-capped hinterland.' 

' That we lived on the fringe of the South-polar conti- 
nent conviction will be afforded by the climate. The 
easterly Fohn-like gales impart to the South-polar region 
its character and its limits ; by their frequency and uni- 
formity they reveal the immensity and homogeneous nature 
of these Antarctic lands.' 

The soundness of Drygalski's deductions from the ac- 
cumulated data of the Gauss expedition will scarcely be 
contested by trained physicists, especially by meteoro- 



284 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

logists familar with the Fohn-wind. Whether the Ant- 
arctica predicted by Murray is a single land, or large 
islands separated by narrow straits, is an immaterial detail. 

8th February 1903, most fortunately the ice broke up, 
releasing the Gauss from the threatened besetment of a 
second winter's duration. 

The authenticity of Benjamin Morrell's Four Voyages, 
1832, has been seriously questioned. The dedication of 
the volume to the then Secretary of the Navy, Woodbury, 
from his own section of the country, is an apparent guar- 
antee of Morrell's reliability. The incorporation of his 
latitudes in Stieler's Atlas and the qualified endorsement 
of Mill are in accord with the author's views. Doubtless 
the longitudes are often inaccurate, as are at times even 
those of voyagers of professional standing. 

Morrell reports that in the sealer Wasp he reached in 
February 1823, 69 n's., 48 15' e., and also 69 42' 
s., in the longitude of Greenwich ; no field ice and few 
icebergs were then seen. He reports no discoveries of 
land, does not surpass the latitudes of his predecessors, 
and makes no claims to credit. He evidently supplements 
later a meagre log by fine writing, in which he relies much 
on memory, and, as Reynold says, he is " too imagina- 
tive." Assuming his longitudes to be too far east, as seems 
most probable with an increasing error, he would have 
been west of Enderby Land near the points reached later 
by Biscoe and Moore. 



Cook and Bellingshausen : see preceding chapter ; 
Morrell: Four Voyages (New York 1832) ; Biscoe : In 
M. Murray's Antarctic Manual (London 1901) ; Chun : 
Aus den Tie/en des Weltmeeres (Jena 1900) ; Drygalski ■ 
Zum Kontinent des eisigen Siidens (Berlin 1904). 









►> 
















CHAPTER XXI 

THE AUSTRALIAN QUADRANT 
(From 90 E. to 180 E.) 

IT is of interest to note that while neither of the great 
South-polar circumnavigators, Cook and Bellings- 
hausen, entered the Antarctic Circle in this quadrant, yet 
it was destined to be the theatre of the most active and 
successful efforts to extend our knowledge of Antarctica. 

The first man to invade these unknown regions was 
an English sealer, John Balleny, in the schooner Eliza 
Scott, accompanied by the cutter Sabrina, H. Freeman 
master, both owned by the Enderby brothers. 

Sailing from Campbell Island, Balleny reached his ex- 
treme east, 1 77 50' e., 6o° 40' s. on 28th January 1839. 
Turning to the southward, he was first to cross the Ant- 
arctic Circle in this quadrant, 172 n' e., 69 s., 220 miles 
beyond Bellingshausen's latitude on this meridian. On 
9th February Balleny discovered the five islands to which 
his name has been affixed. Being in 164 29' e., 66° 37' s., 
he says : ' saw the appearance of land to the s. w. : 
at 8 p. M. (having run s. w. 22 miles) got within 5 miles 
of it, when we saw another piece of land of great height, 
bearing w. by s. 

'Feb. 10. At 2 a. m. bore up for [the middle island] 
and got within half a mile, but found it completely ice- 
bound, with high perpendicular cliffs. ... I make the 



286 Handbook of Antic Discoveries 

high bluffs western points of the middle island, to be 66° 
44' s., 163 11' E. 

' Feb. 11. At 11 a. m cleared, and saw the land bear- 
ing about w. s. W. and of a tremendous height, at least 
12,000 feet and covered with snow. 

' Feb. 12. Went ashore in the cutter's boat at the only 
place likely to afford a landing. It proved only the draw- 
back of the sea, leaving a beach of 3 or 4 feet at most. 
Freeman jumped out and got a few stones. But for the 
bare rocks where the icebergs had broken from we should 
have scarce have known it for land at first, but we plainly 
perceived smoke arising from the mountain tops. The 
cliffs are perpendicular, and what in all probability would 
have been valleys and beaches are occupied by solid 
blocks of ice.' 

Balleny's discovery led to Ross's great success, as he 
followed this route in the discretion left to him in his 
expedition of the same year. 

Sailing with the Erebus and Terror from England in 
September 1839, Ross proceeded 77'tf Possession and Ker- 
guelen Islands, extended magnetic observations being made 
on the latter. Crossing the Antarctic Circle 1st Jan- 
uary 1 84 1, in about 174 e., his successes during that 
month were extraordinary, consisting of the discovery of 
South Victoria Land, of which Cape Adare is the south- 
west promontory. Magnetic observations off this point 
indicated that the south magnetic pole was about 500 
miles to the s. w. In this contingency Ross decided to 
go to the south instead of proceeding to the northwest, and 
so followed the coast to Mt. Erebus, 77 40' s. 

South Victoria Land proved to be a glacier-covered 
country, with lofty peaks rising thousands of feet above 
the sea and the surrounding ice-cap. The mainland coast, 
beaten by high surf and bordered by a continuous and 



The Australian Quadrant 28/ 

moving ice-belt, was then inaccessible. Landings were 
made with difficulty on Possession Island and Sir John 
Franklin Island. 

On the farthest land reached was an active volcano, Mt. 
Erebus, 12,760 feet high, behind which Ross located, as 
it now appears erroneously, a lofty snow-covered range. 

Progress towards the magnetic pole, now to the west 
and north, was impossible, so Ross turned to the open sea 
in the east. Here he found, flowing from the South-polar 
Continent, an immense glacial stream which he appro- 
priately called the Ice-Barrier. 

Skirting the front of these remarkable ice-cliffs, Ross at- 
tained 78 04/ s., and after 250 miles reached 5th February 
167 w., from which he returned to Cape Adare. Sound- 
ings varied from 250 to 500 fathoms along the Barrier, 
which attained a height in one place of 250 feet, but it 
was only 160 feet high in 187 e., where the ships entered 
a great indentation like a bay. 

In both the outward and return voyage Mt. Erebus was 
seen in a state of eruption, in one instance ' flame and 
smoke being projected to a great height.' Of the country 
back of Erebus, which he erroneously thought to be the 
mainland, Ross says : ' We could not see anything except 
the summit of a lofty range of mountains extending south- 
ward as far as the seventy-ninth degree of latitude.' 
These mountains, now known to be non-existent, were 
named Parry Mountains. 

On his homeward voyage Ross reports the discovery 
of new land, three islands, — Russel, Peak, Smyth, and 
Francis, which, located by him in 67 28' s., 165 30' e., 
are now definitely known to be the islands discovered by 
Balleny in 1839. 

The French expedition of 1837 looked to both geo- 
graphical discovery and scientific research. It consisted 



288 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

of the Astrolabe and Zelee, with Dumont D'Urville com- 
manding the squadron. After his visit to the American 
Quadrant D'Urville sailed from Hobart Town ist January 
1840, for explorations between 120 and 160 E., and the 
ships neared.the Antarctic Circle on 20th January, on which 
evening an ice-clad point, Cape D£couverte, was seen. 
D'Urville says on 20th January : ' Before us rose the land ; 
one could distinguish its details. Its aspect was very uni- 
form. Entirely covered with snow, it stretched from east 
to west and seemed to drop towards the sea by an easy 
incline. In the midst of its uniform greyish tint we could 
see no peak, no single black spot.' 

This region, Ad61ie Land, in 66° 30' s., 138 21' e., 
trending from s. e. to n. w., extended as far as the eye 
could reach. Its sea-face presented high vertical cliffs, 
while the general surface, rising to the height of 1,500 to 
2,000 feet and without any marked peak, was rounded and 
unbroken save by occasional crevasses. 

A landing was made on one of ten islets, discovered 
about 600 yards from the mainland, which was without 
vegetation although frequented by penguins. ' These 
islets, very close to each other, seemed to form a con- 
tinuous chain parallel to the coast, from E. to w.' 

The land was followed to 155 30' E., where the ice- 
cliffs turned to the north. After experiencing a severe 
gale the squadron resumed operations to the westward, 
and in 131 e., 64° 30' s., sighted, 30th January, a similar 
coast, named Cote Clarie. 

D'Urville says : ' We saw a cliff with a uniform height 
of 100 to 150 feet [and] spent all day sailing 20 to 25 
leagues along this ice-bound coast, without seeing any 
peak rising above the snow plains.' It was ' perfectly 
vertical at the edge and horizontal at the top ; not the 
smallest irregularity, not the slightest eminence. In vain 



The Australian Quadrant 289 

we scanned carefully all the contours, trying to discover 
some rock or sign of land.' 

Under an Act of Congress approved 18th May 1836, 
an American expedition for general maritime exploration 
was authorized. Intrigues, jealousies, and disputes marked 
the organization of the expedition, of which the command 
was entrusted to a junior officer, Lieutenant Charles 
Wilkes, U. S. N., after several of his seniors had declined 
the detail. The work of the squadron in the Western Hem- 
isphere is mentioned under the proper Quadrants. The 
squadron consisted of the flagship Vincennes, 780 tons; 
Peacock (Hudson), 650 tons; Porpoise (Ringgold), 230 
tons; Seagull (Reid), no tons ; and Plying Fish (Knox), 
96 tons. The ships were wretchedly prepared for an ex- 
tended voyage, and were especially unsuited for Antarctic 
navigation. 

In operating from Australia, Wilkes had only the Vin- 
cennes, Peacock, Porpoise, and Plying Pish. Sailing from 
Sydney, the ships, except the Flying Fish, met 16th Janu- 
ary, 1840, in 15 7 46' e., about 66° s., where a sounding 
of 850 fathoms was made. 13th January, in 65 08' s., 
1 6 3 e., Ringgold, from the Vincennes, thought he could 
discern land to the south like distant mountains. 

On the 16th, in 157 46' E., ' appearances believed to 
be land were visible from all three vessels.' From the 
Peacock the mountains could be distinctly seen ' stretch- 
ing to the s. w. as far as anything could be discerned. 
Two peaks in particular (named for Eld and Reynolds), 
were very distinct in a conical form.' The Porpoise ' dis- 
covered what we took to be an island, bearing south by 
east.' There was reported from the Vincennes land named 
Ringgold Knoll. 

On the 19th, between eight and nine a. m., from 154 
30' e., 66° 20' s., ' land was now certainly visible from 
19 



290 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

the Vincennes, both to the s. s. e. and s. \\\, in the former 
direction most distinctly. Both appeared high.' Hud- 
son, on the Peacock, at 3 : 30 a. m., 19th January, tacked to 
reach ' an immense mass, which had every appearance of 
land, seen far beyond and towering above an ice-island. 
It bore about s. w. and had the appearance of being 3,000 
feet in height, looking gray and dark, and divided into 
two distinct ridges throughout its entire extent ; the whole 
being covered with snow.' 

The later voyage of the Vincennes, during January and 
February, is thus described by Wilkes : 

23d January. ' Reached the solid barrier.' Found a 
'deep indentation in the coast, about 25 miles wide; we 
explored it to the depth of about 15 miles.' 

24th. Discovered Disappointment Bay, 67 04' s., 
147 30' E., which was ' enclosed by firm barrier of ice.' 

28th. 'Another sight of the land ahead.' 'We had 
the land now in plain view ' in about 140 e., 65 ° 30' s. 

30th. ' Land in sight. Reached the ice-barrier and 
hove to. Land in sight and open water near.' ' We 
approached within half a mile of the dark volcanic rocks, 
which appeared on both sides of us, and saw the land 
gradually rising beyond the ice to the height of some 
3,000 feet, and entirely covered with snow. It could be 
distinctly seen extending to the east and west of our po- 
sition fully 60 miles. I make this [Piner] bay in longi- 
tude 140 02' w., latitude 66° 45' s. I gave the land the 
name of the Antarctic Continent.' ' Beyond [the per- 
pendicular icy barrier, about 150 feet in height] the out- 
line of the high land could be well distinguished. We 
suddenly found the barrier trending to the southward. I 
place this point [Cape Carr] in 13 1° 40' e., 64 49' s.' 

1 2th February. Land distinctly seen, from iS to 20 
'miles distant, a lofty mountain range covered with snow ' 



The Australian Quadrant 291 

from 112 16' e., 64° 57' s., making land in 65 20' s., and 
its trending nearly east and west. 

13th. Land was seen from 10 to 12 M., from 106 40' 
e., 6 5 57 's. 

14th. 'By measurement the extent of coast of the 
Antarctic Continent, which was then in sight, 75 miles, 
and 3,000 feet high, entirely covered with snow.' In 
106 19' e., 66° s., on a tabular berg were found 'bould- 
ers, gravel, and mud,' red sandstone and basalt. ' Land 
which was about 8 miles distant ' was seen. Turned 
back on 18th, extreme point in 97 e., 64 01' s. 

The Porpoise log records on 2 2d January, 'A report 
of high land was made this morning.' 

Flying Fish on 23d January, in 15 7 49' e., 65 58' s., 
records that at ' 8 p. M. they discovered several dark spots 
which had the appearance of rocks, and on approaching 
the margin of the ice, they could make them out to be 
such with their glasses.' 

Of the discoveries in general Wilkes says : ' The land 
has none of the abruptness of termination that the islands 
of high southern latitudes exhibit, and I am satisfied that 
it exists in one uninterrupted line of coast from Ringgold 
Knoll in the east to Enderby Land in the west.' 

Whatever may have been said about the accuracy of 
Wilkes's observation, no one ever questioned his courage, 
persistency, or resourcefulness. He continued his voyage 
despite the terrible condition of his ship ( Vincennes) and 
the official recommendations of his officers to abandon it. 
The Peacock was disabled by collision with bergs under 
the face of towering ice-cliffs, and the other vessels ren- 
dered unfit by the heavy pack and violent gales for polar 
navigation long before Wilkes withdrew. 

While D'Urville, Ross, and Wilkes had all done work 
to the special honor of each, yet there unfortunately arose 



292 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

bitter discussions and recriminations as to details. With 
great qualities otherwise characterizing them, neither Ross 
nor Wilkes displayed tact or amiability in this matter. 

Ross devotes 15 pages of his narrative to criticising 
Wilkes, whose discoveries he omits from his South-polar 
chart. The charge that Wilkes was forestalling his ex- 
ploration of this region is absolutely without foundation. 
Ross's discussion involves the exact location of Balleny 
Islands, and moreover he expressly asserts the certain 
accuracy of his own discoveries where • no part has been 
laid down upon mere appearances.' It is the irony of 
fate that his countryman Scott should not only have 
proven the non-existence of the Parry Mountains of Ross, 
but also identified the new discovery of three islands, as 
three peaks of a single island previously discovered and 
charted by Balleny. Uncertain longitudes were frequent 
in earlier days, as is illustrated by the incorrect meridians 
of Biscoe Islands and Bellingshausen's Alexander Land, 
which fact explorers do not always consider when criti- 
cising their predecessors, whose labors have made pos- 
sible their own successes. 

On this subject Mill justly says {Siege of the South Pole, 
p. 247) : ' Wilkes was by no means perfect and committed 
errors of judgment, but we view his communication to 
Ross as a friendly and even unselfish act.' 

The opinion of a countryman of D'Urville is note- 
worthy. M. Laugel, in the Revue des Deux Mo/ntes, 
1856, says: 'The distinguished English navigator went 
even to injustice, and I need no further proof than the 
complete coincidence between the outlines of Addie Land 
of D'Urville and the same coasts traced by Wilkes. 
Ross could not fail of being impressed by this accordance. 
All the information of WiLKES relative to regions between 
ioo° e. and 150 e. have such signs of accuracy that they 



The Australian Quadrant 293 

cannot be considered at all uncertain. Even admitting 
that peculiar errors marked his voyage in the beginning, 
there remains a creditable part to Wilkes.' 

The exact extremes of Wilkes's discoveries are uncer- 
tain, but if his good faith and accuracy of work are ques- 
tioned, so must be the discoveries of D'Urville, Kemp, 
Biscoe, Weddell, and others. 

It would be difficult to find to-day a scientific geogra- 
pher who views the ice-covered land from Kaiser Wil- 
helm II. Land of Drygalski, 88° e. westward to Sabrina 
Land of Balleny, the Cote Clarie and Adelie Land of 
Bellingshausen, and Cape Hudson of Wilkes, as other 
than the outer limits of either an ice-clad continent or a 
glacial archipelago. The observations of Ross, Borch- 
grevink, and Scott on the ice-barrier, are conclusive as 
to the land origin of the enormous tabular bergs and vast 
areas of vertical ice-cliffs. It is therefore safe to assert 
that the continent, whose extreme limits were seen by 
Palmer, Wilkes, D'Urville, and Ross, and outlined by 
Murray's scientific hypothesis, has a real existence. 
Even Scott says, ' Wilkes's soundings still remain as a guide 
to the limit of the continental plateau in this region.' 

The voyage of Borchgrevink and Bull, in the whaler 
Antarctic, commanded by Kristensen, in 1894 reached 
74 s., off Coulman Island, 2 2d January 1895. It was the 
first ship to reach Cape Adare since Ross, 1841. Its pri- 
mary importance lies in the discovery by Borchgrevink 
of a lichen on Possession Island, thus confirming Palmer's 
report of vegetation on Antarctic lands. A landing was 
also made at Cape Adare, where bird-life was very abun- 
dant and lichen vegetation was also found. 

In 1898 Sir George Newnes outfitted an expedition 
under C. E. Borchgrevink in the Southern Cross, com- 
manded by B. Jensen. The scientific staff consisted of 



294 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

L. Bernacchi, H. B. Evans, A. Fougner, N. II ansen, and 
H. Klovstad. Failing by the Balleny Island route, the 
Southern Cross finally found an open sea in 7o°s., i4o°E., 
and reached Cape Adare on i 7th February 1S99. Borch- 
grevink landed with his party of ten, and the ship de- 
parted to return the following year. The winter was 
unusually severe, and efforts at land explorations were 
largely failures. Scientific observations were made in 
magnetism, meteorology, and natural history as far as 
practicable. 

Jensen returning with the Southern Cross, 28th January 
1900, Borchgrevink was fortunate to find open water to 
the south. The eastern coast of Victoria Land was defi- 
nitely located, Wood Bay was extended in its limits, and 
reindeer moss was found at the foot of Mt. Melbourne 
and Franklin Island. From Cape Crozier the ice-barrier 
of Ross was followed, the ship exceeding along its face 
the latitude of Ross by reaching 7S 21' s. On 19th 
February the Southern Cross moored to a low place in 
the barrier, whence Borchgrevink and Colbeck made a 
journey over the glacier to 7 8° 50' s. It appeared that 
the ice-barrier had receded some 30 miles since the visit 
of Ross in 1 84 1. 

In 1 90 1 an expedition was sent by the Royal Geo- 
graphical Society, aided by the British government, 
in the ship Discover) 1 , specially built for the work. 
Commander R. F. Scott, R. N., commanded, aided by 
other officers, Lieutenant A. Armitage of the Jackson- 
Harmsworth expedition, Lieutenant C. Royds (me- 
teorologist), Lieutenant M. Barne, Lieutenant E. H. 
Shackleton (engineer and photographer), D r R. Koett- 
litz (naturalist), D r E. T. Wilson (artist), L. Bernacchi 
(physicist), T. V. Hodgson (zoologist), and H. T. 
Ferrar (geologist). 



The Australian Quadrant 295 

The Discovery, finding favorable ice-conditions, went 
into winter-quarters in McMurdoo Bay, under the shadow 
of Mt. Erebus, in 77 49' s., 166 e. The ice did not 
break up in 1903, but the relief ship Morning, under 
Lieutenant Colbeck, came within ten miles and furnished 
additional supplies. Fortunately, the ice broke up in 
1904, permitting the Discovery to return with the relief 
ships Morning and Terra Nova. 

Scott's extensive discoveries are most important, not 
only from the special standpoint of geography but also 
in connection with other allied sciences. In entering 
McMurdoo Strait, he sailed over the position assigned by 
Ross to Parry Mountains. Before going into quarters, 
the Discovery followed the great barrier eastward, passing 
beyond the farthest of Ross and Borchgrevink. As 
Scott proceeded, the average soundings of 300 fathoms 
shoaled in 165° e. to 100 fathoms, and then gradually to 
70 fathoms. The land thus indicated was discovered 
between 152 w. and 157 w., trending to the northeast. 
King. Edward VII. Land consists in general of smooth, 
rounded, snow-covered hills, with a few projecting peaks. 

Turned back by a heavy pack, Scott landed at a low 
point on the barrier in 1 64 w., and while Armitage made 
a short sledge journey to 7 8° 50' s., ascended in a balloon, 
from which there was visible in all southerly directions an 
unbroken, undulating glacier stream, of vast extent and ex- 
traordinary thickness. Short trips were made that autumn 
by sledge from winter-quarters, adding considerably to 
scientific knowledge, and giving practice for longer jour- 
neys and the establishment of depots. It had developed 
that between King Edward VII. Land to the east and 
Victoria Land to the west, there was a vast offshoot of the 
continental ice-cap, more than 200 miles wide. 

Scott in his main exploration southward, using dog 



296 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

teams, followed the ice-stream to the east of the moun- 
tainous regions of Victoria Land. The flat surface of the 
ice-barrier, without evident ascent but marked by local 
undulations and a few crevasses, was favorable to travel. 
In an outward journey of 59 days, Scott made 380 miles, 
reaching on 30th December 1902, S2 17' s. From his 
farthest he found the ice unchanged, while the land still 
stretched southwards to the 83d parallel, culminating in a 
dominating peak, named Mt. Markham, of an estimated 
height of 15,100 feet. The safety of the party was seri- 
ously compromised on its return, by scurvy attacking 
Shackleton, and by the loss of dogs. 

Armitage and Skelton, following a glacier, reached the 
inland ice on a great plateau of Victoria Land beyond the 
coast mountain range, and attained a point 130 miles dis- 
tant, where the ice was 9,000 feet above the sea. Scott 
turned his attention, in 1903, to the exploration of the 
ice-clad regions of the interior of Victoria Land, the 
sledge being drawn by men. After a journey of four 
weeks, under most adverse conditions of wind and weather, 
Scott sent back the weakest and proceeded with the two 
best men. The ice was of an almost unvarying levelness, 
apart from slight local undulations, and he was compelled 
to turn back with the problem of the interior solved only 
by inference. It was found to be an unbroken expanse of 
inland-ice, unchanged at the farthest, 300 miles from the 
ship, in 77 39' s., 146 33' e. 

During the journey he passed due south of the magnetic 
pole. The isogonic line of 180 degrees was crossed by 
Scott in about 77 50' s., 155 e. 00' thus approximately 
locating the south magnetic pole. 

The scientific observations also show that the upper 
winds are generally westerly, the annual snowfall to be 
about five inches, that Victoria Land rests on a base of 



The Australian Quadrant 297 

gneissic rocks, the existence of extremely scanty and low 
forms of terrestrial fauna and flora, the presence of un- 
identified carbonaceous fossils, and the frequency of Fohn- 
winds from the south. This last fact indicates a high land 
to the south, doubtless of great extent. Scott considers 
it •' probable that the coast [of Victoria Land] runs more 
or less in a straight line from Cape North to Adelie 
Land.' 



Ross: Voyage in the- Antarctic Regions, 1839-43, 2 v. 
(London 1847); MacCormick: Voyages in the Arctic 
and Antarctic Seas, 2 v. (London 1884) ; Bull: Cruise 
of the Antarctic (London 1896) ; Borchgrevink : First 
on the Antarctic Continent (London 1901) : Bernacchi : 
To the South-Polar Regions (London 1901) ; Scott: 
Voyage of the Discovery (London 1905), 2 v. ; Armitage : 
Two Years in the Antarctic (London 1905). 



CHAPTER XXII 

THE PACIFIC QUADRANT 
(From 90 W. to 1S0 W.) 

THIS quadrant is practically a southerly extension of 
the vast Pacific Ocean after which it is named. 
Its strictly oceanic character is shown by the fact that 
from the latitude of 50 s. to the Antarctic Circle there is 
but a single island, Swain, Keats, or Dougherty. 

Of all quadrants this is least known, more than one 
third of the circle being in regions never crossed. In- 
deed, between 106 w. and 180 w. only Cook, Bellings- 
hausen, Walker, and Ross have ever entered the circle. 
Cook barely passed it in 147° w., but later, on 26th Janu- 
ary 1774, he made his great southing, reaching 71 10' s., 
106 54' w. 

Crossing thrice into the Antarctic regions, Bellings- 
hausen also made here his highest latitude and discovered 
the first land. 24th December 1820, he reached 67 s., 
164 34' w. ; on nth January 1821, 67 30' s., i20°\v. ; 
and on 21st January, his farthest, 69 53' s., 92 19' w. 
The discovery of the first separate land is thus given by 
Mill : " An island loftier than any berg had come in 
view. It lay in 6g° s., 90 w., the most southerly land yet 
discovered, and when, on 2 2d January [1821] the ships 
came as near the land as the ice permitted, its length was 
found to be about nine miles, its breadth four miles, and 
its height was estimated at 4,000 feet. The island rose 



The Pacific Quadrant 299 

abruptly from the ice-covered sea and, except for the 
cliffs and higher slopes, was entirely swathed in snow. 
Bellingshausen named it Peter I. Island." 

As described in the American Quadrant, he later dis- 
covered Alexander I. Land. 

The incursion of Lieutenant W. M. Walker, U. S. 
Navy, within the circle, was an attempt on the small 
tender Flying Fish, of Wilkes's Squadron, to surpass Cook's 
farthest, called Ne plus ultra, which he nearly equalled by 
reaching 70 s., 105 w., where he was nearly beset by 
extended ice-fields. 

Not only was Ross's second voyage in this Quadrant, 
but he attained a latitude which for many years was the 
southern record. Sailing from his base in New Zealand 
on 23d November 1841, he attempted his southing along 
the meridian of 146 w., and crossed the circle on New 
Year's day, only to be driven north by adverse gales. 
Reaching on 2d February, 67 29' s., 159 w., he was six 
days later in 70 30' s., 173 10' w. On 28th February 
1842, he attained 78 io' s., 161 27' w., where the 
sounding gave 230 fathoms, and the ice-cliffs ran as high 
as 107 feet. 

On the return voyage the Erebus and Terror collided 
between two immense bergs, during a violent gale. With 
entangled rigging the ships dashed against each other, 
and were carried against a lofty berg. The yard-arms of 
the crippled Erebus repeatedly struck against the ice- 
cliffs towering above her mastheads, and she escaped ship- 
wreck as by miracle. 

After 64 days within Antarctic seas, Ross recrossed the 
circle on 6th March. Later he visited one of the foci of 
maximum magnetic intensity, in 6o° s., 1 25 w., and there 
made a series of observations. His extended series of 
deep-sea temperatures, taken with great care and regu- 



300 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

larity, were worthless owing to unsuspected imperfections 
of his thermometric instruments. 

While the western end of Ross's barrier and the dis- 
covery of King Edward VII. Land by Scott strictly pertain 
to this quadrant, it appears better to treat them under 
the Australian Quadrant, in which these voyages were 
principally made. 

The solitary island without the circle, in this vast ex- 
panse of unbroken sea, is in 59 30' s., 120 w., and it 
is doubtless identical with the land of Captain Swajn, of 
Nantucket, who discovered an island in 1800, when on 
a whaling expedition in the Pacific in 59 30' s. ; but its 
reported longitude is erroneous. Long known as Swain 
Island, it has shared the fate of many discoveries and been 
renamed by later navigators Dougherty or Keats Island. 



For Cook and Bellingshausen see Chapter XIX. For 
Ross see Australian Quadrant. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

THE AMERICAN QUADRANT 
(From longitude of Greenwich to 90 w.) 

THE geographic evolution of this quadrant began 
through an accidental discovery by a British trad- 
ing ship, and was carried on by American sealers, a body 
of daring and adventurous seamen whose pursuits and in- 
clinations have carried them to unknown seas and resulted 
in discoveries, Arctic and Antarctic, which would have 
crowned with honor the professional explorer. 

The advantages of the Pacific Ocean as a fishing ground 
appealed early to Americans, five whalers entering it in 
1 79 1. Worth in the Beaver, the first arrival, was ordered 
out of Lima by the Spaniards and forbidden the coast. 
Others stopped in the stormy seas of Tierra del Fuego, 
where the extreme northwest island, Desolation, was a 
favorite base, and others frequented the Falklands. 

The latter archipelago was probably first visited for seal- 
ing purposes alone in 181 5, as in the following summer 
American ships returned therefrom laden with elephant 
oil. The first clearances for the Sandwich group, noted 
by A. Starbuck, were in 181 9, the Equator and Balazna 
of New Bedford, which are said to be the first whalers to 
visit these islands. 

Little doubt exists that in the early years of the nine- 
teenth century whalers or sealers ventured far south of 
Patagonia and the Falklands for new fishing ground, but 



302 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

with the discretion and secretiveness which marked the 
work of the successful whaler, such voyages were guarded 
as professional knowledge of special value. It is not im- 
probable that more than one of the 70 American whalers 
which cleared for the Patagonian seas prior to 18 19, 
skirted the shores of South Shetlands and Palmer Land. 
In any event Fanning mentions more than 30 islands and 
groups discovered by fishermen in the early part of the 
nineteenth century. Balch records that even in later 
years A. Eldred in 1875-76 landed on Louis Philippe 
Land near the entrance to Gerlache Strait ; while F. B. 
Lind in 1880 skirted Louis Philippe Land to Seymour 
Island, and later followed Gerlache Strait along the west 
coast to 66° s. With these data in view it is probable 
that the reports of high southern latitudes by whalers 
in 1828 are correct. 

The South Shetland Islands were incidentally discovered 
by W. Smith, in a voyage to Valparaiso, 19th February 
1 819, and visited by him the following October. In 
1820 E. Bransfield, R. N., surveyed a part of the group 
and went to 64 30' s. At the same time J. P. Sheffield, 
of Stonington, Conn., was surveying other parts of the 
archipelago. Among American whalers seeking the new 
fishing grounds were P. Pendleton, commanding fleet, 
J. P. Sheffield, E. Williams, F. Dunbar, and Nathaniel 
B. Palmer, the last named in the 40-ton cutter Hero, 
The fleet in 1821 anchored in Yankee Harbor, Deception 
Island, 63 s. From the lookout on the high volcanic 
crater, Pendleton discovered several mountains to the 
southward. As described in Fanntng's Voyages, Pai.mi r 
was sent to visit the land, which he found to be an exten- 
sive, mountainous country, its coast partly ice-bound and 
the mainland almost entirely covered with snow. After 
his return he visited Bellingshausen, on 5 th February. 



The American Qttadrcmt 303 

Whether Palmer told Bellingshausen of Palmer Land, as 
is set forth by Fanning (Voyages, p. 434), is not recorded 
in the Russian account. This hardly impeaches the state- 
ment to this effect, as Bellingshausen did not refrain 
from practically appropriating the South Shetlands, affix- 
ing Russian names to various points already discovered 
and frequented. 

Palmer's second voyage is recorded in A. Starbuck's 
History of the American Whale Fishery, 1878 (p. 240), 
the sloop James Monroe of Newport, R. I., sailing under 
Palmer for New South Shetlands in 1S21, and returning 
full of oil and furs on 20th April 1822. Mill states that 
a part of Powell's track in the Dove, while discovering 
Powell Islands, was followed by Palmer. Fanning states 
that Palmer's southerly voyage continued during January, 
1822, to Palmer Land. It was ice-bound in places, but 
he was finally able to make considerable surveys, which, 
according to Fanning, ran through 15 degrees of longi- 
tude, from 64 to 49 w., he doubtless skirting the pack. 

Fanning says : ' The coast to the eastward became 
more clear of ice [which agrees with modern observa- 
tions], so that he [Palmer] was able to trace the shore 
better; in 6i° 41' [evidently a misprint, for he started 
from 62 ] south latitude, which he named Washington 
Strait ; this entered, and about a league within came to 
a fine bay, which he named Monroe Bay. At the head 
of this was a good harbor ; here they anchored, calling it 
Palmer Harbor. The captain landed on the beach among 
a number of sea-leopards and king-penguins ; the captain 
traversed the country for some distance, without discov- 
ering the least appearance of vegetation except the winter 
moss. The sea-leopards were the only animals found ; 
there were vast numbers of oceanic birds ; the valleys 
were mainly filled with those never-dissolved icebergs, 



304 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

their square and perpendicular fronts several hundred 
feet in height. The mountains (both coast and interior) 
were generally covered with snow, except black peaks 
here and there peeping out.' 

This is an unusually correct description of Palmer 
Land, especially taking into consideration that the ac- 
count comes through a third party. 

Attempts more or less direct have been made to dis- 
credit Palmer's discoveries, which are remarkable for 
their absence from the Antarctic Manual for the Expe- 
dition of 1 901, issued by the Royal Geographical Society. 
It is admitted that the incidental account in Fanning's 
Voyages leaves much to be desired, but Mill's suggestion 
{Siege of the South Pole, p. 103), that Palmer's visited 
land in 1821-22 was South Orkneys alone, falls to the 
ground by Powell's chart, from which Palmer Harbor, 
Monroe Bay, and Washington Strait are all absent. Mill, 
with most creditable fairness, quotes (p. 113) the state- 
ment that a British ship, touching Palmer Land at a single 
point in 1831, unjustifiably renamed it Graham Land. 

Fanning says (p. 476) : 'From the information that 
the author has in his possession, it is presumed that the 
continent of Palmer's Land does not extend farther west 
than to the 100th degree of west longitude; and it is 
reported that an extensive bank of soundings, with from 
60 to 100 fathoms of water over it, has been discovered 
between the latitude of 66° and 69 south, to the west- 
ward of 140 west longitude.' 

The land thus discovered and explored by Palmer is 
in reality a part of the continent of Antarctica, or a very 
large island, as the continuity of its eastern and western 
coasts has been determined far within the Antarctic 
Circle, stretching an unknown distance to the south beyond 
Larsen's farthest, 68° io' s. 



The American Quadrant 305 

On 2 1 st November 182 1, Powell Islands were visited by 
Captain George Powell (whom Mill calls a British sealer) 
in the Dove, two months before the arrival of Weddell, 
who gave them their present name, South Orkneys, which 
British chart-makers followed despite Powell's chart pub- 
lished in London, 1822. 

Besides Peter I. Island (Pacific Quadrant) Bellings- 
hausen discovered Alexander Land, 28th January 182 1. 
Mill quotes : ' Another high land came into view ; this 
time a coast of considerable extent with a well-marked 
cape, the position of which was fixed as 68° 43' s., 73 
10' w. . . . The air was so clear that although the ships 
could not approach within 40 miles of the land, it could 
be seen and some parts appeared to be free from snow.' 

Resuming his voyage „ Bellingshausen recrossed the circle 
in 7 6° w., on 31st January, after having sailed continuously 
28 degrees of longitude south of the Antarctic Circle, a feat 
unprecedented in history. Visiting the South Shetlands, 
where he gave many Russian names to points previously 
discovered and surveyed by Bransfield, Pendleton, and 
Powell, it is significant that he ' invited ' Palmer to meet 
him on 5th February. Why Palmer, the master of the 
smallest vessel, unless the report of discoveries and pre- 
vious meeting was true in substance ? If Bellingshausen 
refrained from giving full credit to others in South Shet- 
lands, why should he have been more explicit in regard 
to Palmer? 

While the position of Peter I. Island remains unchanged, 
Gerlache places Alexander I. Land two degrees farther 
to the west, thus indicating that Bellingshausen did not 
go within 60 miles of it. 

The adventurous spirit of the British sealers is shown by 
the remarkable voyage of James Weddell. Surveying the 
South Orkneys in January 1823, he determined the posi- 



306 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

tion of Saddle Island to be 6o° 38' s., 44 53' w. When 
within 100 miles of Sandwich Land, turning with the Jane 
(160 tons) and Beaufoy (65 tons), he crossed the circle. 
Favored by fine weather, favorable winds, and a practicably 
iceless sea, he reached on 20th February 1823, 74 15' s., 
34 17' w., a point 214 miles nearer the South Pole than 
the record then held by Cook. No land was to be seen, 
and only three icebergs were in sight. Weddell's re- 
markable voyage has never been equalled in Weddell Sea, 
not even in this age of steam and other modern adjuncts 
to successful exploration. The 70th parallel has been 
crossed in this sea only by Morrell, the same open 
season; by Ross in 1843, an d by Bruce in 1903 and 
1904, where he discovered Coats Land. 

Morrell's Four Voyages have been considered in con- 
nection with the African Quadrant, where his longitudes 
appear too far to the east, which is also the case when in 
1823 he coasted along the east shore of Palmer Land from 
6 7 52' s., to the northern cape, which he places with fair 
accuracy in 62 41' s., by D. R. He reached on 14th 
March 1823, 70 14' s., with the uncertain longitude of 
40 03' w. It is known that this sea was unusually ice-free 
at this time, as Weddell proceeded 241 miles beyond this 
latitude a few weeks earlier, but erroneously gives the date 
1822, in his account. The adoption of this date by 
Morrell indicates that he needed no confirmation of his 
statements of an ice-free Weddell Sea in 1823. 

In the American expedition of 1829, commanded by 
B. Pendleton in the Seraph, Palmer was captain of the 
Annawan. Leaving Staten Island near Cape Horn, 2 2d 
January 1830, Pendleton says: 'A lengthy cruise, pre- 
sumably of two months' duration, of much anxiety and 
suffering, towards the icy region, for the discovery of lands 
to the westward of Palmer's Land, and likewise in search 



The American Quadrant 307 

for the land said to have been seen by Captains Macy and 
Gardiner, to the southwestward of Cape Horn, of neither 
of which we were fortunate enough to make any discovery.' 

Refitting after his voyage in the African Quadrant, 
Biscoe sailed again in the Tula and made important 
discoveries off the west coast of Palmer Land. On 15 th 
February 1832, he saw land in 67 15' s., 69 29' w., 
which he approached within three miles. Biscoe says : 
' This island being the farthest known land to the south- 
ward, it was given the name of Queen Adelaide.' The 
next day he saw high mountains 90 miles to the south, 
doubtless Alexander I. Land. Between 17th and 19th 
February he discovered a group of (Biscoe) islands, 
which lay in the foreground, strikingly set off by the high 
mountains of Palmer Land in the background, landing 
on a smooth-topped ice-capped islet, named Pitt Island. 

The French expeditionary ships Astrolabe and Zelee 
(the latter under Jacquinot), commanded by J. C. S. D. 
D'Urville, began their Antarctic work by attempting in 
1838 to surpass Weddell's remarkable southing. Meeting 
a closed pack on 22d January in 63 39' s., 44 47' w., 
they turned back without crossing the circle. 

Sighting the east coast of Palmer Land on 2 7th February 
1838, and following it northward, D'Urville named the 
two mountainous snow-clad islands Louis Philippe and 
Joinville Lands, probably unaware of the fact that they 
had been earlier discovered. 

Ross's third voyage was made in this quadrant without 
important results, though he discovered the Danger Islets 
off Joinville Land, and Cockburn Island, on which he 
landed. 1st January 1843, he was in sight of Mt. Had- 
dington, and landed on Cockburn Island. 1st March 
1843, he crossed the circle; the next day, in 68° 14' s., 
12 20' w., Ross made a sounding without bottom, reported 



30S Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

as 4,000 fathoms, now known to be 2,660 fathoms deep. 
On 5th March he reached his farthest, 71 30' s., 14 
51' w. Thenceforth, for thirty years, this quadrant was 
given up to the fishermen, who frequented its waters less 
and less. 

In 1873 E. Dallmann, in the German whaler Gronland, 
sighted the west of Graham Land in 64 45' s., and among 
other modifications of the charts found a complicated 
archipelago and a wide channel to the eastward, which he 
named Bismarck Strait, now known to be a bay. 

Two Scottish steam whalers visited the coast of Palmer 
Land in 1S92, the Balana under A. Fairweather, with 
W. S. Bruce, naturalist, and W. D. Murdoch, artist, and 
the Active under T. Robertson, with C. W. Donald, nat- 
uralist. The B aland s farthest was Danger Islands, off 
Joinville Land. Robertson, however, landed on Joinville 
Land and discovered a channel making an island (Dundee) 
of the extreme northeast point of the supposed mainland. 

The German whaler Jasoti, under C. A. Larsen, landing 
in 1893 on Seymour Island, found fossils, the first indis- 
putable evidence of sedimentary rocks in this region. 
Renewing his voyage the next year, Larsen followed the 
west coast of Palmer Land, which he proceeded to rename 
Oscar II. Land. He found the land continuous to 68° 
10' s., where he was turned back 6th December 1893, by 
heavy ice, seeing at his farthest four peaks. On his return 
he discovered Robertson Island, a chain of islets called 
Seal Islands, and in 65 s. two active volcanoes. 

The same year the German sealer Hatha, under Even- 
sen, skirting the west coast of Palmer Land, passed be- 
tween Biscoe Islands and the mainland, reaching, 21st 
November 1893, 69 10' s., 76 12' w. He sighted 
Alexander Land and approached nearer its icy coasts 
than any predecessor. 



The American Quadrant 309 

In 1897 a Belgian expedition sailed in the Belgica, 
under command of Lieutenant A. de Gerlache. As sci- 
entific assistants there were H. Arctowski, F. A. Cook, 
E. Danco, A. Dobrowlski, and E. Racovitza. Important 
work was done from the beginning, Gerlache Strait being 
found to separate Palmer Land from Graham Archipelago. 
In 20 landings on islands and mainland, large collections 
of geological and natural history specimens were made. 
The Antarctic Circle being crossed, Gerlache saw Alex- 
ander Land, but a close pack prevented his approaching 
nearer than 20 miles. Prominent peaks arose from the 
mountainous region, which was largely covered by glaciers. 
Forcing his way into an opening pack, he reached, 3d 
March 1898, 71 30' s, near which the Belgica was beset 
and subjected to the vicissitudes of the drifting pack for 
13 months, escaping 14th March 1899. 

The drift varied from 8o° 30' w. to 102° w., and once 
carried the Belgica to 71 31' s., where a sounding showed 
210 fathoms. Passing by drift to the south of Peter I. 
Island, its isolation must be marked and its area small, 
as no land was seen in that direction, and none to the 
south except Alexander Land, concerning which opinions 
vary as to its forming part of Palmer Land. 

After leaving Staten Island, the sea deepened rapidly, 
from 300 to 1,600 fathoms, and then gradually to 4,000, 
whence its bed rose gently to South Shetlands. 

Of Palmer Land Racovitza says that it is 'formed of 
high mountainous table-lands with steep slopes and narrow 
valleys. The channels (of great depth) have steep per- 
pendicular shores.' Basing his opinion partly on the 
continental plateau between 70 and 71 36' s., and 75 
and 103 w., where the average depth of 250 fathoms 
shoaled to the south, he considers it probable that there 
is 'a continuous continental mass from longitude 50 w. 



310 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

to 6o° e.,' one of the supporting points being ' the ter- 
reous nature of the sediments of the continental plateau 
containing a very strong proportion of sand, gravel, and 
rounded pebbles.' 

The few mosses, lichens, grasses, musci, diptera, etc., 
hitherto unknown in Antarctica, are considered as recent 
importations through the visiting birds, as the prcglacial 
fauna and flora certainly perished in the maximum ice- 
period. 

Geographically, Gerlache has cleared up many points 
correcting the erroneous longitudes of Biscoe Islands and 
of Alexander I. Land, discovering Gerlache Strait and 
Banco Land to the east, and proving the existence of 
an extensive archipelago, to which he generously affixed 
the name of Palmer. 

In 1902 a Scottish expedition was sent out by A. 
Coats in the Hekla, under W. S. Bruce. His efforts to 
penetrate Weddell Sea between the routes of Ross and 
Weddell resulted in besetment in 70 25' s., where the 
soundings gave 2,500 fathoms. Retreating, the Hekla 
wintered in the South Orkneys, and renewed her work in 
1904. The soundings on her southward course were quite 
uniform, exceeding 2,600 fathoms, to 72°s, i8°w., where 
the sea shallowed to 1,131 fathoms. On 6th March an 
ice-clad, undulating land was seen, the ship (then in 159 
fathoms) being unable, owing to a dense pack, to reach 
shore two miles distant. Bruce's farthest was 22 w., 
740 01' s., within 14 miles of the southing of Weddell. 

A Swedish expedition, in the Antarctic under D r Otto 
Nordenskiold, reached the South Shetlands 10th January, 
1902, and later found that Orleans Channel, of D'Urville, 
is part of Gerlache Strait. 

With three other scientists and two seamen, Norden- 
skiold established a station on Seymour Island, and was 



The American Quadrant 311 

there left by the Antarctic. On 30th September a sledg- 
ing party started south to explore the coast line, which 
was successfully done as far as 66° s. in a journey of 
400 miles. Nordenskiold describes it as 'an elevated 
mountainous country, a series of rugged, jagged crests, 
behind which extends a large ice-plateau, from which 
immense glaciers descend, leaving only the highest peaks 
snowless.' The Seal Islands are really nunataks, with 
their sea-face an ice-barrier of varying altitude. 

The Antarctic not returning in 1903, Nordenskiold 
again took the field and found Mt. Haddington on an 
island, separated from the mainland by Prince Gustav 
Channel. Here he met Andersson and two others who 
had landed from the Antarctic on the east coast of Louis 
Philippe Land, where they had wintered under distressing 
conditions. 8th November the party was visited by Cap- 
tain Irizar, Argentine frigate Uruguay, who came for their 
relief. By a most astonishing chance they met and res- 
cued Larsen and the crew of the Antarctic which had 
been lost 12th February, 1903, the crew escaping to land. 
Polar annals scarcely offer such successive instances of 
remarkable dangers and safe issue therefrom. 

The scientific researches were varied and interesting, 
covering magnetism, meteorology, hydrography, biology, 
and geology, the last-named far the most important. On 
Seymour Island Nordenskiold found strata of the early 
Tertiary age, miscellaneous bones of vertebrates (espe- 
cially a new and larger penguin than those of to-day) , and 
also a variety of well-preserved leaf-impressions, indicating 
former luxuriant vegetation and warm climate. On Louis 
Philippe Land Andersson discovered a fossil flora from 
the Jurassic period, disclosing vegetation similar to the 
Upper Gondwana series in India. 

Nordenskiold says : ' The discovery of two fossil 



312 Handbook of Arctic Discoveries 

floras, one from the Jurassic period and one Tertiary, and 
the finding of richly fossiliferous marine deposits from both 
Cretaceous and Tertiary, lends a unique interest to this 
region.' 

The last expedition, 1903, in this quadrant is that of 
Dr. J. Charcot, which wintered in the Francais at Wandel 
Island, near the southern entrance to Gerlache Strait. 
Charcot by sledge journey in 1904 found that Bismarck 
Strait is really a bay. Explorations were made of the 
coast southward to the vicinity of Alexander Land, which 
could not be reached owing to the impenetrable ice- 
barrier along its shores. The new discoveries were named 
Loubet Land. 



Fanntng's Voyages (New York 1834) ; Balch : Ant- 
arctica (Philadelphia 1902); Bellingshausen: Two 
Voyages of Exploration (in Russian. St. Petersburg 
1 83 1, 2 v. and atlas); Weddell : Voyage towards the 
South Pole (London 1822); Burn Murdoch: From 
Edinburgh to the Antarctic (London 1894) ; Gerlache : 
Quinze Mois dans FAntarctique (Paris 1902); Cook : 
Through the First Antarctic Night (New York 1900); 
Nordenskiold and Andersson : Antarctica (New York 
I905)- 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Aarstrom, 60 

Abruzzi, Amadeo Luigi, 177-179; 

highest north of, 182 
" Advance," voyage of, 152, 197; fate 

of, 200 
"Adventure," voyage of, 273 
Aldrich, P., 205, 233 ; farthest north, 

185 ; sledge journey of, 205 
Aldrich, R. D., sledge journey, 155 
"Alert," voyage of, 181, 204 
"Alexander," voyage of, 86 
Alexief, F., 72 
Altman, 67 
Ambler, Dr. J. M., services and death 

of, 1 91-192 
Ambroern, L., 225 
Amdrup, Lieut. G. C, 260 
Amundsen, voyage of, 172 
Anadyr River, 42, 72 
Anderson, J., 138, 142 
Andersson, 311, 312 
Andree, S. A., 182-184 
Andrejeff, C, 226, 227, 269 
Andrejev, 189 
Angmagsalik Missionary Station, 

255 
Anjou, P. F., journeys of, 188 
Ankudinof, G., 72 
" Annawan," voyage of, 306 
Anne, Empress, 73, 75 
Antarctica, 276, 297 
Archer, R., sledge trip of, 206, 234 
Armitage, Lieut. A., 294-297 
Armstrong, A., 100, 146, 164 
Asher, G., 13, 21 
"Assistance," voyages of, 151, 155, 

265 ; abandoned, 158 
" Astrolabe," voyage of, 288 
Astrup, E., 256-257 
Austin, H., 93, 146; voyage of, 151, 

265 



Back, G., 95, 98, 100, 105, 106, 109 

et seq., 126 ; voyage under Franklin 

in " Terror," 98 ; by land, 115 
Baer, K. E. von, 30 
Baffin, W., 6, 11, 20, 56, 86, 211 ; 

highest north of, 185 
" Baffin," voyage of, 244 
Baker, M., 266 

" Balsna," voyage of, 301, 308 
Balch, 277, 302, 312 
Baldwin, expedition of, 172 
Balleny, J., 285, 286 
Banks, J., 85 
Barents, W., 23, 30, 38, 50 et seq., 

59; house of, 32; highest north of, 

185 
Barrington, D., 11, 86 
Barrow, J., 10, 21, 86 
" Bear," voyage, 239 
Bear Island, 67 
Beaumont, L. A., sledge journeys of, 

206 
Beazley, 21 
Beechey, F. W., 53, 57, 81, 84, in, 

112, 184; voyage of, m-112 
Beke, C. T., 23, 51 
Belanger, 106 

Belcher, E., voyage of, 155, 164, 265 
" Belgica," voyage of, 309 
Bellingshausen, 277, 284, 312; 

voyages of, chapter xix; 29S et 

seq. 
Bellot, J. R., 96, 152 
Berggren, 249 
Bering, V., 9, 71, 84; voyages of, 

73 et seq. ; death of, 78 
Bering Strait, currents of, S3; gold 

deposits east of, 84 
Bernacchi, L., 294, 297 
Berry, voyages of, 1S9, 192 
Bessels, E., 210; journeys of, 203 



3i6 



Index 



Bidlingmaier, F., 2S2 

Biese, E., 223, 268 

Billings, J., 71 

Birbeck, E., 66 

Biscoe, voyages of, 279, 307 

Bjeflkof, 1S7 

Bjorling, 65 

Blake, Mrs. E. V., 210 

Bliven, 190 

Block, R., 252 

Blosseville, 243 

"Blossom," voyage of, 112 

" Bon Accord," voyage of, 87 

" Bona Esperanza," voyage of, 34 

Boon, V., 243 

Borchgrevink, 293, 297 

Borisoff, Lieut., voyage of, 33 

Bouvet, 273 

Bradford, Dr. A. R., sledge journey 

of, 155 
Bradford, W., voyage of, 202 
Brainard, D. L., 230, 233; highest 

north of, 1S5 
Bransfield, E., 302, 305 
Branth, D., 266 
Brass, W., 87 
Bravais, 57 
Brooke, Lieut., 82 
Brown, J., 133, 154, 164, 265, 267 
Brown, Dr. R., 247-248 
Browne, W. H., sledge journey of, 

155 
Bruce, W. S., 306, 310 
Brunn, B., 242 

Brusneff, relief expedition of, 195 
Buchan, A., 281 

Buchan, D., voyage of, 166 et seq. 
Buchanan, J. Y., 2S0 
Bull, 293, 297 

Bunge, A., 194 ; journey of, 192 
Burrough, S., 22, 36 
Busa, E., 39 
Bushnan, 91 

Button, T., voyage of, iS 
By lot, R., voyage of, 19 

Cabots, J. & S., 12, 17 
Cagni, Capt. U., voyage of, 177- 
179 ; highest north of, 182 



"California," voyage of, 101 

Cannellier, Lieut., 268 

"Carcass," voyage of, 165 

Carlheim-Gyllcnskiold, 6S, 267 

Carlsen, Capt. E., 31, 59 

Carolus, J oris, 66 

Carpenter, Dr., 177 

Cator, Lieut., voyage of, 151 

Cavalli, Dr., 17S 

" Challenger," voyage of, 276-2S1 

Chamberlain, Prof., 259 

Chancellor, R., 10, 34 

Chandler, W. E., 239 

Chaplin, Lieut., 74 

Charcots, Dr. J., 312 

"Charles," voyage of, 101 

Chavanne, J., 264 

"Chateau-Renauel," voyage of, 262 

Chelyuskin, Mate, 41 

Chernichef, T. H., 68 

Chernysteff, voyage of, 33 

Chipp, Lieut. C. W., lost, 191 ; sees 

land, 192 
Christensen (Eskimo), 230, 233 
Chuckches, 74 

Chun, C, 2S4 ; voyage of, 281 
Chvoinof, 1S6, 187 
Chydenius, C, 59 
Clavering, Capt. D., 57; voyage 

of, 245 
Clerke, Capt., 80, Si 
Colbeck, Lieut., 295 
Collinson, Gen., 21, 164 
Collinson, R., 82, 100, 121, 265, 

Chapter xi 
Colwell, J. C, 239, 240 
Conway, Sir Martin, 66-69 
Cook, Dr. F. A., 259, 277, 309, 312 
Cook, Capt. James, 45, 79, 80, 81, 

85. 2 73- 2 75 et se 9- 
Coppinger, Dr., sledge journey of, 

206 
Cortereal, 13 
"Corwin," voyages of, 1S9-192, 192- 

193 
Courcelle-Seneuil, Lieut., 224 
Coxe, W., 47 
Crantz, D., 263 
Cresswcll, Lieut., 146 



Index 



317 



Crone, 267 

Crozier, F. R. M., 91, 93, 121 et seq.; 
record left by, 131 

" Daedalus," voyage of, 265 

Dalager, 248 

Dall, W. H., 266; observations in 

Bering Strait, 83 
Dallmann, E., 308 
Dalrymple, 273 
Danenhower, J. W., 191 
Dannell, Capt., 243 
Dannet, Capt., 128 
D'Aunet, Mme., 41, 55-57 
Davis, John, 15, 184, 210; highest 

north of, 1S5 
Dawson, H. P., 225, 268 
Dease, P. W., 117 et seq. 
DeBray, Dr., sledge journey of, 156 
De Brosses, C, 278 
De Bruyne, voyage of, 215, 217 
" De Freia," voyage of, 59 
De Geer, G., 68 
De Gerlache, Lieut. A., 276, 309- 

312 
De Haven, E. J., voyage of, 152, 265 
De la Croyere, 75-76 
Delisle, G., 10 
De Long, G. W., 183; voyage of, 

190; death of, 191 
De Loriol, P., 266 
Dementief, A., 76 
Derfouth, Capt., 34 
Deshnef, S., 40, 72, 74 
De„Veer, G., 23, 25, 27, 33, 51-52 
De Vlamingh, W., 29 
Des Voeux, C. F., 131 
" Diana," voyage of, 31 
Dickson, O., 42, 44, 182 
" Dijmphna," voyage of, 223 
"Discovery," voyage, 1778, 80; 

1875, 20 4» I 9 0I > 2 94 
Dittmar, C. von, 71 
Dobbs, A., 20 

Domville, Dr., sledge journey, 157 
Donald, C. W., 308 
" Dorothea," voyage of, 166 
" Dove," voyage of, 305 
Drake, Sir Francis, 273 



Drygalski, Dr., expedition of, 255; 

276, 2S2, 284, 293 
Dufferin, Lord, voyage of, 262 
Duner, 59, 60 
D'Urville, 277, 281, 288, 292 et 

seq, 

Eberlin, P., 252, 267 

Edam, 243 

Edge, T., 53, 60, 66 

" Edward Bonaventure," voyage of, 

35 
Egede, H., 243 
Egede, the younger, 243 
Egerton, Lieut., journey of, 205 
Eigner, 269 
"Eira," voyage of 1880, 215; of 

1881, 216; lost, 216 
Ekholm, N., 227, 269 
Ekstam, Dr., ethnographical studies 

of , 33 

Ellison, J., 230 

Elson, 113 ; discovers Point Barrow, 
82 

Emory, W. H., voyage, 239 

Enderby brothers, 279, 280 

Engelhardt, voyage of, 33 

"Enterprise," voyage of, Chapter 
xi; abandoned, 157; 164, 265 

"Equator," voyage of , 301 

"Erebus," voyage of 1825, 127; 
1839, 286; 1841, 299; 1845, Chap- 
ter ix; abandoned, 131; remains 
of, 149 

Erichsen, M., journey of, 260 

" Erling Jarl," voyage of, 174 

Erman, 29 

Escholtz Bay, 81 

Eskimo, massacre of, 103; of Bering 
Strait, 71; of Boothia Felix, 97; 
of Coppermine River, 103, 107; of 
East Greenland, 246, 253-257; of 
Etah, 87, 198, 200; of King Wil- 
liam Land, 97, 133 ; of Mackenzie 
River, 112; of Melville Penin- 
sula, 92 ; of Possession Bay, 90 ; 
of Repulse Bay, 123, 129; of 
Walker Bay, 14S ; 266 

Etzel, A. von, 263 



3i8 



Index 



Evensen, 308 

" Express," voyage of, 44 

Fabvre, Capt., 57 

Fairweather, A., 308 

" Falcon," voyage of, 257 

" Fame," voyage of, 244 

Fanning, voyages of, 302-304, 312 

Feilden, H. YV., researches of, 33 

" Felix," voyage of, 152, 265 

Fiala, expedition of, 172 

Fisher, Dr. A., 91 

Fitz james, J., record left by, 131, 132 

Flawes, W., voyage of, 38 

"Florence," voyage of, 227 

Forsyth, C, voyage of, 152 

"Fortuna," voyage of, 73 

Fosheim, 20S 

Foster, 93 

Fox, L., " Northwest," 16, 19 

"Fox," voyage of, 159, 164 

Fraenkel, 183 

" Fram," voyage of, 173-177 ; 208 

Franklin, Sir John, 7, Si-82, 104 et 

seq., 97, 100, 126, 127 et seq., 207 ; 

death of, 131 ; voyages of, first, 

166; second, 105; third, m; 265 
Franklin, Lady, 151 
Franz Josef Land, 172, 211 
Frederick, J. R., 230 
Fricker, 277 

"Frithiof," voyage of, 58 
Frobisher, M., 13 
Fur-trade, 9 

"Furnace," voyage of, 102 
Furneaux, Capt., 273 
"Fury," voyages, 1S21, 91; 1824, 

93 ; abandoned, 94 
" Fylla," voyage of, 252 

"Gabriel," voyage of, 74 
Gaimard, P., voyage of, 57, 268 
Gama, land of, 76 
Garde, T. V., 255, 267 
Garde, W., 252, 253 
Gardner, C. L. W., 32 
Garlington, E. A., record of, 238 
Garwood, E. J., 68 
"George," voyage of, 37 



" Germania," voyage of, 170,246-247 

Gerritsz, H., 51 

Giese, W., 224 

Giesecke, K. L., explorations, 247 

Gilder, \V. H., 132, 141, 142, 194 

Giles, Commander, 66 

Gjoa, voyage of, 172 

" Gladen," voyage of, 60 

Glottoff, 80 

Goldsmid, E., 21 

Gomez, 13 

Goodsir, R. A., 153 

Gore, G., 130, 132 

Graah, W. A., 263 ; explorations of, 
246 et seq. 

Grad, C, 53, 57, 69 

Gray, D., 243 

Greely, A. \V., 176, 207, 209, 235, 
256, 267, 269 ; expedition, 22S et 
seq.; journeys into Grinnell Land, 
232, 233; visits Kennedy Chan- 
nel, 236; 238, 240; highest north 
of, 182, 1S5 

Green, H., 18 

Greenland, bibliography of, 266 

Griffin, S. P., voyage of, 152 

Grinewiskey, Dr., 32 ; crosses Nova 
Zembla, 227 

Grinnell, H., 197, 199 

"Griper," voyages of, 1S19, 88; 
1S24, 94, 245 

Grtfmlund C., 266 

Groth, 252 

Gundersen, M., 32 

Gwosdef, M., 79; discovers North- 
west America, 75 

Haake, 243 

Hall, C. F., 132, 133, 138 et seq., 
142, 184; first voyage of, 132; 
last voyage of, 1 70, 202 ; obtains 
Franklin's silver, 139; visits King 
William Land, 139; highest north 
of, 1S5 ; 207 ; death of, 203 

Hamilton, B. V., sledge journey of, 
156 

Hamke, G., 243 

Hammer, R. H. I., 252, 266, 267 

Hand, death of, 206 



Index 



319 



Hannah (Eskimo), 203 

" Hansa," voyage, 246 

Hansen, N., 294 

Hansen, S., 252, 267 

Harrison, A. H., explorations of, 210 

Harstene, voyage of, 199 

Hartwig, 11 

Hassel, 209 

Haswell, Lieut., 146 

Hayes, I. I., 210; voyages, first, 
197 ; second, 200; 268 ; third, 202 

Hearne, S., 102 et seq., 107, 126 

" Hecla," voyage of, 1819, 88 ; 1821, 
91; 1824,93 

Hedenstrom, 187-188 

Heemskerck, J., 24, 39, 50 et seq., 
185 

Heer, O., 65, 169, 266, 268 

Hegeman, voyage of, /70 

" Hekla," voyage of, 310 

Hellands, 247 

Hendrik, H. (Eskimo), 19S; me- 
moirs of, 200 

Henry, G. B., executed, 239 

Hensen, V., 257-258 

Hepburn, J., 105, no 

" Herald," voyage of, 143 

Highest north, table of, 1587-1902, 

185 

Hobson, W. R., 159^ seq. ; discovers 
Franklin record, 162 

Hoffmeyer, N., 266 

Holm, Capt., voyage of, 255 

Holm, G., 242, 263, 266; explora- 
tions of, 252 et seq. 

Holm, Th., 267 

Hondius, 51, 53 

Hood, R., 105, no; death of, no 

Hooker, J., 235 

Hooper, C. L., voyages of, 1S9, 
192 

Hooper, W. H., 71, 142, 194, 265 

" Hope," voyage of, 216 

Hoppner, Lieut., 91, 93 

Houtman, 39 

Hovgaard, A., voyage of, 223 

Hudson, H., 17, 165; voyages of, 52 
et seq., 185; discovers Jan Mayen, 
260, 261; highest north of, 1S5 



Hudson Bay Company, 101, 117-118, 

122 
Hyades, Dr., 268 

Icy Cape, 71,81, 85 

Ignatief, I., 72 

Indies, East, 37-39 

Inglefield, E. A., voyages of, 196, 

210, 265; highest north of, 185 
" Ingolf," voyage of, 244 
Inland ice of Greenland, 248 et seq. ; 

explorations of, 255 et seq. 
International Polar Conference, 222 
"Intrepid," voyages of, 151, 155 
"Investigator," voyage of, Chapter 

xi, 265; abandoned, 157 
Irizar, Capt., 311 
Isaachsen, 209 

" Isabel," voyage of, 196, 265 
" Isabella," voyage of, 86 ; as whaler, 

98 
"Isbjorn," voyage of, 211 
Istoma, G., 34 
Ivan, Czar, 35 

Jackman, C, 27 

Jackson, E. F., 172, 176, 217 

Jackson, S., 72 

Jacquinot, expedition of, 307 

Jago, Lieut., 148 

James, Capt., 19 

"James Monroe," voyage of, 303 

Jan Mayen, discovered, 260 ; visited, 

261, 262 
Jansen, 200, 266-267 
" Jeannette," voyage of, 190, 191 
Jens (Eskimo), death of, 239 
Jensen, A., 252 
Jensen, B., 293 
Jensen, J, A. D., 248 
Johanesen, Capt. E. H., 217 
Johannessen, Capt. N., 67 
Johansen, 174 
Johnstrup, F., 259 
Jurgens, Lieut., 226 

Kamchatka, 40; discovered, 72 
Kane, E. K., 164, 210 ; first voy- 
age, 152 et seq.; second voyage, 
197 et seq. ; highest north, 185 



320 



Index 



Karpf, Dr., 264 

Keilhau, Prof., 57, 67 

Kellett, H., 82, 143, 265 ; first 
voyage of, 155; second, 265; dis- 
covers Herold Island, 189 

Kemp, voyage of, 2S0 

Kennedy, W., 96; voyage of, 152 
164, 265 

Kergu61en-Tr6marec, voyages of, 
273, 278 

Keulen, G. van, map of, 242 

King Charles Land, 66 

King, J., 18 

King, R., voyage of, 126 

King William Land, 117, 140, Chap- 
ter ix 

" Kite," voyages of, 255-258 

Kjeldsen, Capt., 66, 217 

Kjellman, F. R., 42 

Knight, J., 1 01 

Knorr, 200 

Knudsen, R., 252, 267 ; voyage of, 

2 55 
Knutsen, H., 253, 267 
Koch, K. R., 224 
Kolchak, expedition of, 195 
Kolderup, 266 
Koldewey, K., voyages of, ijoetseq. 

1S4; explorations by, 246-247 
Kornerup, A., 251, 252, 266 
Koscheleff, 40 
Koshevin, 1S7 
Kotzebue, O. von, 71, 84; voyage 

of, 81 
Krech, 281 
Kristensen, 293 
Kriwascheja, 227 
Kukenthal, W., 67 

"Lady Franklin," voyage of, 

151, 164 
Lambert, 243 

Lamont, 33, 54; voyages of, 65 
Lange, J., 266, 267 
Lanman, 240 
Laptief, C, 41 
Laptief, D., 41 
"La Reine Hortense," voyage of, 

262 



" Larkin," voyage of, 87 

Larsen, 252 

Larsen, C. A., 311; farthest south 
of, 308 

Lassinius, Lieut, 41 

Laugel, M., 292 

Lauridsen, P., 84, 266-267 

Lazareff, voyage of, 275 

Lee, 257-258 

Lehmann, R., 30 

Lenstrom, S., 223, 268 

" Lena," voyage of, 44 

" Leo," voyages of, 240 

Lephay, 268 

Leslie, A. H., 47, 69, 1S4, 267 

" Le Seniavine," voyage of, 82 

Liachof, voyage of, 186 

" Lilloise," voyage of, 243 

Lind, F. B., 302 

Lindemann, M., 11 

Lockwood, J. B., 240; sledging jour- 
neys, 22S et seq. ; farthest north 
of, 1S0, 185, 231 

Long, T., 190 

Lorenzen, J., 266-267 

Loschkin, S., 29 

Loshak, 23 

Lowenorn, P., 243 

Lozier-Bouvet, voyage of, 278 

Lundbeck, 267 

Lundstrotn, A. N., 42 

Liitke, von, 29, 71, S2 

Lutwidge, S., voyage of, 165 

Lyon, G. F., voyage of, 94 

MacCormick, 297 

McClintock, 129, 133, 150, 164,230, 
268 ; voyages of, 155; last voyage 
of, 159; recovers Franklin relics, 
161; sledge journeys of, 155-156 

McClure, EL, S2, 100; Chapter xi, 
172, 265 

McCormick, Dr. R., boat journey of, 
»55. 265 

McDonald, 200 

McDougal, G., 164 

McGahan, J. A., 142 

Mack, Capt., 31 

Mackenzie, A., 104, 126 



Index 



3 21 



Maddren, 195 

M'Kay, 116 

Magdalena Bay, 52, 57; graveyard 

at, 56 
Magellan, voyage of, 272 
Magnus, Olaus, 34 
Maguire, R., 82, 84, 143, 265 
Maigaard, 255 
Major, R. H., 21 
Malmgren, A. J., 59, 65 
Malygin, 40 

" Manche," voyage of, 262 
Marion-Dufresne, 278 
Markham, A. H., 33 ; farthest north, 

171, 1S5 ; sledge journey of, 171 ; 

voyage on frozen sea, 171, 176; 

184, 267 
Markham, C. R., 11, 21 
Marmier, X., 57 
Martens, F., 55, 57 
Martial, F., 224 
Martins, C, 57 
Mathilas, 60 
Mattonabbee, 102 
May, Lieut., journey of, 206 
Meade river, 84 

Mecham, G. F., sledge journey of, 156 
Melville, G. W., lands on Jeanette 

island, 190; boat retreat of, 191 
Melville Islands, 89, 90, 145, 148 
Melville peninsula, 91-92 
Melville Sound, 89 
Mercy Bay, 145 
Mestni island, 3.8 
Michel, executed, no 
Middleton, Capt., 20, 91, 101 
Mikkelsen, Capt. E., expedition of, 

210 
Mill, 277, 280, 292, 298, 304 
Minin, 40, 45 
" Mirny," voyage of, 275 
Mohn, Prof., 216 
Mommier, Dr., 264 
" Monticello," voyage of, 190 
Moore, T. E. L., 82, 84, 102, 143 

280 
Morrell, B., voyages of, 284, 306 
Morton, W., journey of, 198; high- 
est north of, 185 



Moseley, N. M., 280 

Motley, J., 28 

Mount Beerenberg, 262 

Muirhead, Capt., 87 

Mulgrave, Lord. See Phipps 

Munk, Jens, 19 

Muravief, Lieut., 40 

Murdoch, B., 312 

Murdoch, J., 72, 240, 269 

Murray, Sir John, 276, 277, 281, 284 

Muscovy Company, 14, 36, 37, 50, 54 

Mussel Bay, 60 

Myer, F., farthest north, 185, 203 

Naero, 260 

" Nancy Dawson," voyage of, 143 

Nansen, F., 173-177 ; highest north 
of, 181 ; crosses Greenland, 250, 
263; 251, 258 

Nares, G. S., 204, 210, 266, 280; 
highest north of, 185 ; sledging 
trip of, 1853, 156 

Nathorst, A., 65, 66, 67, 260 

Nauchorst, Prof., 50 

"Nautilus," voyage of , 190 

Navfalik (Eskimo), 253 

Nay, Admiral, 38 

Nelson, Lord, 166 

"Neptune," voyage of, 236 

Neumayer, G., 222, 268, 277, 282 

Newnes, Sir G., 293 

Newton, A., 66 

Nias, Lieut., 91 

Niles, Capt., 66 ; voyage of, 190 

Nilsen, Capt., 59 

Nissilof, M. K., 33 

Nobel, A., 182 

Nordenskibld, A. E. von, 7, 9, n, 
2 3, 33, 36,38. 4i, 42, 44,47, 58, 
6 5, 7i, 73, 235, 2 4S, 2 5 x , 2 59, 267 ; 
expeditions, 1861, 58; 1864, 59! 
1868, 60; 1872, 60; ice journey 
of 1870, 248 ; of 1883, 249 ; voy- 
age of 1868, 169 ; voyage of 1872, 
169 ; highest north of, 185 ; 190 

"Nordenskibld," rescues Snellen, 
226 

Nordenskibld, Dr. O., 310, 311 

Norman, C. 0. E., 266 



322 



Index 



Norquist, Lieut., 46 

Northeast land, 59 ; inland ice of, 

crossed, 61-62 
North Magnetic pole, 97, 172 
North Pole, nearest approach to, 179 
"North Star," lost, 240; voyage 

of, 155, 265 
Nourse, J., 133, 142 
Novidiskof, M., discovers Atto, 79 

Ommaney, E., sledge trip of, 154- 
155 ; voyage of, 151 et seq. 

" Onkle Adam," voyage of, 60 

" Orangebovn," voyage of, 244 

Orleans, Duke of, 260 

Ortelius, 17, 272 

Osborn, S., voyages of, 151, 156, 
209, 210; sledge trip of, 154-155 

Oscar II of Sweden, 44 

Othere, 34 

Otter, F. W. von, high northing of, 



Pachtussow, 29, 33 

Palander, L., 60 ; voyage of 1872, 
169 

Palliser, J., 31 

Palmer, N. B., sealer, discoveries of, 
275, 281, 283; second voyage of, 
303 ; 304 ; Palmerland, 302 et seq. 

Palutski, D., 71 

'• Pandora," cruise of, 142, 163 

" Panther," voyage of, 202 

Parkes, Lieut., 148 

Parr, A. C, march of, 171 

Parry, W. E., 7, 57, 86,97, 100, 108; 
farthest north, 168, 1S4, 185; voy- 
ages of, 1818,86; 1819,88; 1820, 
90 ; 1824, 93 ; 1827, 166 

Pars, Major, 248 

Paschoff, Mme., 33 

Paul, death of, 206 

Paulsen, A. F. W., 223 

Pavy, O., sledge trip of, 228, 229 

Payer, J., 210, voyages of, 211; 
sledge journeys, 213,247; highest 
north, 185. 

Peabody, George, 197 

Peacock, voyage of, 289 



Pearson, H. J., 33 

Peary, R. E., four years' expedition 

of, 179 et seq. ; highest north of, 

179, 181, 182; expedition of 1904, 

182 ; 207, 20S, 210, 246, 259 
Pelham, E., 49 
Pendleton, B., 306 
Pendleton, P., 302 
Penny, \Y\, voyage of, 151, 265 
Perez, So 

Pet, A., voyage of, 37 
Peter (Eskimo), death of, 199 
Peter the Great, 73 
Petermann, A., 24, 51, 69, 170, 190, 

195, 211, 220 
Petersen, Capt., 5S, 252 
Petersen, C, death of, 193 
Petitot, E., 126, 135 
Philip II, 27 
Philippi, E., 282 
Phillips, Comdr., voyage of, 152 
Phillips, whaling captain, 190 
Phipps, J. C. (Lord Mulgrave), 56, 

184; voyage of, 165 ; highest north, 

185 
" Phcenix," voyage of, 15S, 265 
Pike, Arnold, 67 
Pim, B., 146; sledge journeys of, 

156-157 
"Pioneer," voyages of, 151, 155; 

abandoned, 1 5S 
" Plover," voyage of, 143, 265 
Plover Land, 147 
Point Barrow Station, S4 
"Polar Research," 11 
" Polaris," voyage of, 1S4, 202 ; lost, 

203, 207 
" Polar Star," voyage of, 227 
Pontanus, 51 
Poole, J., 53, 56, 165 
Popof, 73 

" Porpoise," log of, 291 
Postnik, I., 39 
Powell, Capt. G., 305 
Powell, J. W., 240 
" Prince Albert," voyages of, 152, 

164 
"Proteus," voyages of, iS8i, 22S; 
18S3, 237; lost, 23S 



Index 



323 



" Proven," voyages of, 42 
Pschenizyn, 188 
Pullen, W. J., 143, 155, 265 
Pushkaref, winters on the American 
continent, 80 

Quadrant, African, 278-285 ; 
American, 301-312 ; Australian, 
285-297 ; Pacific, 298-300 

Quale, Capt., 31 

Quennerstedt, 58 

Querini, Lieut., 178 

Rabot, C. H., 262 

" Racehorse," voyage of, 165 

Racovitza, E., 309 

Rae, J., Chapter x, 130, 142, 149, 

248, 265 ; voyages, 1846, 122; 

1851, 145; discovers Franklin's 

fate, 126 
" Ragnvald, Jarl," voyage of, 172 
Rainaud, 277 
Ralston, D. C, 230 
" Rattlesnake," voyage of, 265 
" Ravenscraig, ' ' rescues Polaris' 

crew, 204 
Rawson, Lieut., journey of, 205- 

206 
Ray, P. H., explorations of, 239, 

269 
Raynor, Capt., 190 
" Recherche," voyage of, 56-57 
Red Snow, 87 

"Reindeer," voyage of, 190 
"Rescue," voyage of, 152 
"Resolute," 157; recovered, 158; 

164 ; voyages of, 265, 273 
"Resolution," voyages of, 80, 155 
Reste, B., 11 
Rice, G. W., 239-240 
Richard, Sir H., 147 
Richards, G. H., 93; voyage of, 

155; sledge journey of, 155-156; 

210 
Richardson, J., 11, 105, 109 et seq., 

141, 142, 265, 267; boat voyage 

of, III 
Rink, H., 247, 251, 263, 266 
Robertson, T., 308 , 



Roche, R., sledge journey, 155 

"Rodgers," voyages of, 189-192 

Rodgers, J., 82 ; voyage of, 189 

"Romanche," voyage of, 224 

Romanzof, N., 187 

" Roosevelt," voyage of, 182 

R^rdam, 267 

Rosenomge, 266 

Rosmislov, Lieut., 29 

Ross, James Clark, 91, 93, 95, 150-; 

voyages of, in Antarctic seas 7 

285-297, 298, 299 et seq. 
Ross, John, uncle of J. C, 82, 86, 

95, 100, 114, 132, 265 ; voyages 

of, 1818, 86; 1829,95; 1851, 52 
Rosse, I. C, 192 
Rostrop, 266 
Ruis, B., 243 
Rundall, T., 21 
Rupert, Prince, 101 
" Rurik," voyage of, 81 
Ryder, 267 ; expedition of, 252, 

2 54 
Ryp, C. J., 52, et seq.; highest 
north, 185 

Sabine, E., 47, 57, 88-89, 195,, 

245 
Safelef, S., 76 

Saint Lawrence island, 46-51. 
Salor, N., 230 
Samkif, 187 
Samoyeds, 33 ; 226 
"Sampson," voyage of, 66 
Sannikof, 187, 188, 192 
Saryschef, G^ 47, 71 
Saunders, 265 
Scharostin, 48 

Schei, geological collection of, 209 
Schestakof, A., 71 
Schley, W. S., voyage of, 239 
Schokalsky, 47 
Schott, C, 269, 281 
Schrader, Dr. K., expedition of r 225 
Schrenck, L. von, 194 
Schwatka, F., 132, 133, 142 ; visits 

King William Land, 1 40-141 
Scoresby, W., 57, 85 ; explorations 

of, 244 



324 



Index 



Scoresby, \V., Jr., 9, 11 ; explorations 
of, 244 et scq. ; great northing of, 
166 

Scott, R. F., 276, 294; discoveries 
of, 295-297, 292, 300 

" Search thrift," voyage of, 36 

Seeman, H., S4, 164 

Selinfontof, 40 

Sheddon, R., 143 

Sheffield, J. P., 302 

Shileiko, 194 

Shumagin, j-j 

Siberia, exploration of coast, 47 

Sibiriakoff, A., 43-44 

Simpson, G., 122 

Simpson, J., 71, 84, 144 

Simpson, T., explorations of, 117 et 
seq., death of, 121 

Sirovatskof, 187 

Skelton, 296 

Skuratof, 40 

Sledge journeys; Aldrich, Browne, 
Bradford, De Bray, Domville 
Hamilton, McClintock, Meacham, 
Ommaney, Osborn, Nares, Pim, 
Richards, and Roche, 155-156 

Smeerenburg (Spitzbergen Fair), 55 

Smith, Mrs. E. V., 184 

Smith, Leigh, 176, 211, 220; re- 
lieves Nordenskiold, 64; surveys 
Northeast land, 63 ; voyages of, 
1870, 63 ; 1871, 66; 1S72, 66 ; 
18S0, 215; 1SS1, 216 

Smith, W., 275, 302 

Snellen, M., 225, 268 

Snow, W. P., 152, 164 

Solander, 269 

Sontag, A., death of, 200 

" Sophia," voyages of, 151, 164, 16S 

Sorrensen, voyage of, 217 

Spanberg, discoveries of, 73, 75 

Spitzbergen, fishes, 65 ; circumnavi- 
gation of, 59; plant life of, 65; 
wintering in, 48-49; explorations 
of coast, 67, 6S, 69 

Sporer, 33 

Stadukin, 39, 73 

Staehlin, J. von, 81 

Starbuck, A., 301, 303 



Steen, A. S., 227, 269 

Steenstrup, K. J. V., 251-252, 266- 

267 
Stein, voyage of, 207 
Stejniger, L., visits Commander 

Islands, 78 
Steller, W., 75, 77-78; death of, 77 
Stewart, A., 151 
Stieler, 284 
Strindberg, 183 
Stuxberg, A., 42-43 
Sutherland, A., 153, 164 
"Svenskund," voyage of, 83 
Sverdrup, Capt., 173, 174, 207, 210; 

discoveries of, 207-210 
Sylow, 252 
Synd, S0-S1 

Tasman, 273 

" Tegetthof," voyage of, 211 

"Terror," abandoned, 131; drift 

of, 99; voyage of, 98; of 1S36, 

9S; of 1845, 127 
Tetgales, Capt., 38 
Th6el, H., 42, 43 
" Thetis," voyage of, 239 
" Thomas," voyage of, 87 
Thomson, C. W., 280 
Thorne, R., 165 
"Tigress," voyage of, 203 
Tischoff, death of, 227 
Tobias, 60 
Tobiesen, 66, 67 
Toeppen, 33 

Toll, E. von, journeys of, 192-195 
Torrel, O., 55, 65 ; expeditious of, 5S 
Trapesnikof, 80 
" Trent," voyage of, 166 
Trevor-Battye, A., 67 
Trollope, 265 
Tromholt, S., 224, 240 
Trurenburg Bay, 57, 58 
"Tschirikof," 75; voyages of, 76, 

77; voyage of, to American coast, 

75 
" Tula," voyage of, 307 
Tyaghin, Lieut., 32 
" Typus Orbis Terrarum," 272 
Tyson, G., 184, 210 



Index 



325 



Ulve, Capt., 31, 66 
" United States," voyage of, 199 
" Urd," voyage of, 227 
Ussing, 252 

" Valdavia," voyage of, 281 

" Valorous," voyage of, 204 

"Varna," voyage of, 223; lost, 225 

Varnek, surveys of, 33 

" Vega," voyage of, 44-47 

Verrazzano, 13 

"Victory," abandoned, 97; voyage 

of, 95 
Vilitsky, surveys of, 33, 47 
"Vincennes," voyage of, 82, 189, 

289-291 
" Virgo," voyage of, 1S3 
Volck, 268 
" Vostok," voyage of, 275 

Walker, Dr., 163 

Walker, Lieut., 298, 299 

Walloe, O., 243 

Walrus hunters, wicter of, on Spits- 
bergen, 61 

WandeL, C. F., 266, 267; voyage of, 
244 

Warming, E., 267 

Warming, G. E., 267 

Waxel, Lieut., 74, 75 

Weddell, James, 305, 306, 307 

Wellman, W., voyage of, 172 

Weymouth, 16 

Weyprecht, C, 211, 220, 221, 222; 
voyages of, 2x1; highest north, 
185 



Whale fisheries, of Spitzbergen, 53- 

56 
White, A., 69 
Whymper, E., 248 
Wiggins, Capt. J., 31, 43 
Wilander, H., 50 
Wilczek, Count, 211, 221, 222 
Wilde, F., voyage of, 238 
Wilkes, Lieut., 289-292 
Willaume-Jantzen, V., 267 
" Willem Barents," voyages of, 215- 

217 
Willemoes, Suhm, 2S0 
" William," voyage of, 37 
Willoughby. H., 10, 22, 34, 50, 54 
"Windward," voyage of, 179 
Winnyatt, Lt., 146 
Witfliet, 273 
Wohlgemuth, E. von, 67, 69, 222, 

262, 268 
Wood, Capt., 2^ 
Worth, voyage of, 301 
Wrangel, F. von, 71 ; journeys of, 

122, 188 
Wrangel Land, 45, 189 et seq, 
Wyche Land, 66, 102 

" Yantic," voyage of, 238 
" Ymer," voyage of, 123 
Young, A., 142; explorations of, 
159-63 ; voyage in Pandora, 163 

Zaninovich, accident to, 214 
Zeni Brothers, 10 ; voyages of, 21 
Zordrager, C, 11 



OCT 13 1906 



